All this "rule" means is that you need some time to figure yourself out (the new, sober you) before you take on the added challenge of a new relationship. Of course life still goes on, you may suffer from unexpected events and tragedies and have to deal with them. But dating is an event that you choose for yourself, not one forced on you like losing a job, death/illness of a loved one, etc. Why would you want to make things harder for yourself deliberately?
I don't think that there's anything magic about 365 days. Maybe one person is ready to start dating after 4 months, and another in 5 years, it all depends on the person.
I have almost a week sober. I don't think I'm going to date anytime soon. It would be too stressful for me, and it would be unfair to my date if I was unable to manage my emotions/stress of early sobriety and took it out on them.
Maybe you want to date because you are lonely and feel dating may help you, and maybe even help you stay sober. I have felt like this too before. I just think it is unfair to use an "innocent bystander" (a date) to deal with my feelings of loneliness and stress. There are other options that are much better:
-friend that knows about your situation
-family member
-therapist
-AA/NA or other support groups
-posting on SR
-volunteering
-professional relationships with co-workers
Now I have not heard of this "no dating for a year" rule before so I don't have anything to say about who invented it or whether it is truly part of AA or not. I think there is some wisdom to this rule/suggestion no matter where it came from, but I would not take the "one year" part literally, that's just my opinion.