We propose the symbol ⁂ to represent the fediverse.

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

  • m-p{3}@lemmy.caEnglish
    1671·
    2 months ago

    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.

  • dudenas@lemmy.mlEnglish
    655·
    2 months ago

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

    • aasatru@kbin.earth
      181·
      2 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.

    • arudesalad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      12·
      2 months ago

      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

      • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
        12·
        2 months ago

        eg as a link where using a word 300 times on the same page would be cumbersome

        • lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
          41·
          2 months ago

          “Fedi”

          Already more than 50% shorter.

          In comparison, asterism symbol (and any proposal that further extends into Unicode’s emoji area) still spends three, maybe four bytes.

          • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
            1·
            2 months ago

            I… umm… yes, I will grant that in UTF-8 and perhaps UTF-16, it encodes to fewer bytes. But that doesn’t have anything to do with my point.

    • citrusface@lemmy.worldEnglish
      156·
      2 months ago

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

  • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    462·
    2 months ago

    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

    • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
      102·
      2 months ago

      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.

      • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        41·
        2 months ago

        I didn’t say that it was being used to represent anyone, or that it was being stolen, I said that it was already in use. To use your examples, I’d think that using Pi or the degree symbol to represent the fediverse would be a bad idea too, as they could also lead to confusion. The semicolon is punctuation, so there’s less chance of confusion with that.

        If an astronomy group made a poster with the three stars, would the stars be representing star clusters, or advertising that they’re on the fediverse? Given that the fediverse is still relatively small, is there more chance of the stars being seen as an astronomical symbol?

        • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
          47·
          2 months ago

          Oh my god, you’re right. How could I have failed to see the risk. They must be stopped at all costs.

  • aeronmelon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    452·
    2 months ago

    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.

    • chiisana@lemmy.chiisana.netEnglish
      122·
      2 months ago

      Technically, the words are adopted from Chinese (in this case both Traditional and Simplified are the same and have not diverged yet); but same meaning and reasoning, just different pronunciation.

      • aeronmelon@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        2 months ago

        I know that Kanji was originally derived from Chinese but I don’t know which Chinese characters are the same and which are different without doing research.

        It is nice that in this case the symbols are the same all the way across the board. 5/5 design choice on both counts.

  • Hal-5700X@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    431·
    2 months ago

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

    EDIT Why change something that isn’t broken?

  • Handles@leminal.spaceEnglish
    281·
    2 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.

    • simple@lemm.eeEnglish
      16·
      2 months ago

      Having a unicode icon that can be copy pasted anywhere is nifty, but yeah I’m really not a fan of choosing this one.

      • intensely_human@lemm.eeEnglish
        161·
        2 months ago

        Why do we need to have a unicode character that refers to the fediverse?

        Are we trying to replace our alphabetical language with a language of ideograms?

        • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
          34·
          2 months ago

          Can you answer, “Why do we need a symbol that represents the Fediverse?” Because modulo that, your question becomes, “Why does the symbol that represents the Fediverse have to have a Unicode codepoint?”

          We don’t need it to be a Unicode character, but there are advantages if it is that are so obvious they don’t even bear discussion.

            • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
              11·
              2 months ago

              That’s nonsense.

              If you know what those reasons are, then whether or not they have been articulated should not influence how you feel about those reasons. To think I could control your mind by not saying things. Just think of all the things I am not saying right now. You’ll go mad.

              If you DON’T know what those reasons are, then you are simply not able to respect them less than you do now.

    • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
      129·
      2 months ago

      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.

      • drspod@lemmy.mlEnglish
        10·
        2 months ago

        Are you one of the three proposers mentioned in the git repository?

        • jerkface@lemmy.caEnglish
          3·
          2 months ago

          No I’m just so very bored and this is the classic bikeshed issue so I figure I won’t cause any problems here.

  • elrik@lemmy.worldEnglish
    23·
    2 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.

  • lud@lemm.eeEnglish
    17·
    2 months ago

    Nah, I won’t happen because you can’t type it on a keyboard.