this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2024
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A symbol for the fediverse ⁂ (symbol.fediverse.info)
submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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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] 63 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 weeks ago (1 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

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I recommend the asterism to instead be adopted as the symbol for astigmatism.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

I like it! 😁

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Don't typograh so small

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 weeks ago

1 thats not how typography works

2 im not webpage authour what u wan me to do about it moew?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 weeks 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] 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 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

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

"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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks 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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 weeks 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] 2 points 3 weeks ago

Not so widely adopted if most results don't include it.