this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024
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Fediverse

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We propose the symbol ⁂ to represent the fediverse.

...

⁂ is called an asterism. In astronomy, it refers to groups of stars in the sky, akin to constellations. We suggest that it’s a very fitting symbol for the fediverse, a galaxy of interconnected spaces which is decentralised and has an astronomically-themed name. It represents several stars coming together, connecting but each their own, without a centre.

...

@ is the symbol for e-mail. # is the symbol for hashtags. ☮ is the symbol for peace. ♻ is the symbol for recycling. ⁂ can be the symbol for the fediverse. ⁂ is standardised as Unicode U+2042, making it ready to copy and insert anywhere.

Git Repository: fediverse-symbol/fediverse-symbol

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[–] [email protected] 238 points 7 months ago (6 children)

a bunch of assholes conected to each other... sounds about right.

[–] [email protected] 64 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I was gonna say snowflakes, but now I can't unsee the buttholes.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 7 months ago

If Greendale Community College was a University.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago

It’s a sarcasterisk.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago

Not an asterism but an assterism (or arseterism).

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[–] [email protected] 178 points 7 months ago (15 children)

I'd rather see the current Fediverse logo added to Unicode than reuse an existing symbol. It's not impossible, considering that the Bitcoin symbol () ended up making it.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I don't think it works well typographically but I'd like to see a mockup

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[–] [email protected] 104 points 7 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 74 points 7 months ago (2 children)

What I'm hearing here is

Proposal to add current Fediverse symbol to Unicode

[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 months ago (4 children)

closest current one I can find is

or

[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago

I kind of like the idea of just using pentagram. ⛥

Close enough to the current logo in appearance, scales well, not used by other social media, satanic undertones.

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 7 months ago (5 children)

Isn't there one already widely adopted? The rainbow mesh pentagon? Why rebranding?

[–] [email protected] 33 points 7 months ago (2 children)

is said in webpage: the pentagram symbol is hard to distinguish at smaller typographicl sizes

[–] [email protected] 36 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I'm reading this thread on mobile, and the fediverse logo next to the community name is much easier to see than the three stars. If I didn't already know what the three stars were from the rest of the post, I wouldn't have a clue what they were supposed to be in the body. They look like a blurry capital A.

Obviously the fediverse logo is bigger there, which helps, but it's not significantly bigger, and would still be clearer at a smaller size

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 18 points 7 months ago

So they touch upon it on their site:

The pentagram icon is the original symbol for the fediverse, created back in 2018 by Dr. Quadragon and Eukombos. It’s a great depiction of the decentralised nature of the fediverse, and has been serving the community well. However, its design is a little too complex to be used at small sizes, as you would in text or in a button. It’s also only available in image form, not as a typographical character.

I think they have a valid point. Currently on my website I use a Mastodon logo next to email and git and all that jazz. It's not ideal, as it's not so important that I'm on Mastodon specifically (and I might move to a self-hosted #Seppo instance in the future), but the existing fediverse icon would not work well at that scale.

It's a huge branding effort to make it catch on though. And part of me likes the pentagram better.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago

my friend, please read the article. it does a great job of explaining the why. it only takes a minute to read.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (3 children)

My guess is because it's unicode. But that doesn't really matter. How often are you going to want to put the icon instead of just typing the fediverse

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I like it because it reminds me of the Japanese kanji 森 Mori (Forest).

Which is in and of itself brilliant because it’s the kanji 木 Ki (Tree) repeated three times and bunched together.

[–] [email protected] 47 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Am I misunderstanding this - you want to replace a recognised symbol with a symbol that's already being used by another group? That seems counterproductive at best.

I'm also wondering, have you spoken to anyone with poor eyesight? This is my reply to a comment below suggesting that the new symbol would be easier to read:

I'm reading this thread on mobile, and the fediverse logo next to the community name is much easier to see than the three stars. If I didn't already know what the three stars were from the rest of the post, I wouldn't have a clue what they were supposed to be in the body. They look like a blurry capital A. Obviously the fediverse logo is bigger there, which helps, but it's not significantly bigger, and would still be clearer at a smaller size

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago (2 children)

It's not being used by another group to represent themselves. It's a technical symbol like degrees or pi. This idea is similar to how the semicolon is being re-used as a symbol for a group of people. Nothing is being stolen from anyone.

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

It looks like a bunch of snowflakes, making it very representative.

EDIT Why change something that isn't broken?

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Whoever decided that a logo should be standardised as Unicode? That is the worst criterion for picking a symbol that has and will have hundreds of other uses than inline text. If it's so important — work to have the current, pentacle fediverse symbol included in Unicode.

Registering a domain to introduce your dumb idea with a lot of empty bravado leaves you with ... an annual bill and a dumb idea. The pentacle symbol is so much more recognisable.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Stealing an icon already designated for something else? As is tradition

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

It's literally a character, like aitch.

I'm pretty sure we're cool to use it. The advantage of using a glyph that already exists in Unicode is huge.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 7 months ago (1 children)

i like the gay satanism icon

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago

Its use looks contrived to me on the linked GitHub page. The comparison with @ and # is flawed because those symbols are part of the resource name, whereas here the symbol is superfluous. It's like adding a 🌐 in front of every web URL.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 7 months ago

Diaspora already use the symbol, to some extent. https://diasporafoundation.org/

[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

Edit: Or this lookalike 🝆

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Nah, It won't happen because you can't type it on a keyboard.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago

This looks like shit, is used for something else already, we already have an icon for the fediverse and this has 0 reason to exist

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Can we use dog buttholes instead of cat buttholes

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (4 children)
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[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Why though? We don't need a symbol. Is it that hard to type "fediverse"? The fediverse logo is good enough.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Testing a little side by side comparison

[–] [email protected] 30 points 7 months ago (1 children)

And in white, for the dark mode folks:

But it's hardly a fair comparison, especially because it seems I cannot upload SVG files to Mbin. I also didn't make the lines thinner or any other adjustments that might be a good idea at this scale. Still, might be better than noting.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago (3 children)

What a bunch of snowflakes. I like the idea. This was my first thought though

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago
[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

There is no real dichotomy between the logo we have and the proposed typographical symbol. They have different uses, neither can really replace the other. Keep the established colourful Fediverse logo in visual layouts and when desired use the typographical symbol in text. It is natural that they won't be exactly the same symbol because they are designed for different needs; one is meant to look pretty and one is meant to read well as text.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

First thought: e pluribus anus

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago

Thanks, I hate it.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 months ago

Did someone just slap this together by copying and pasting an asterisk three times? I know we're an open source, nerdy community but could we hire a graphic designer?

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