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.ca
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    25 days 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.

    • jerkface@lemmy.ca
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      25 days ago

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

    • Clot@lemm.ee
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      23 days ago

      I think it’s too complex to be a Unicode character

      • ulterno@lemmy.kde.social
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        23 days ago

        Looking at how current emojis tend to be hard to distinguish without increasing the font size (I see ~13 px on this page), I’d say the fediverse icon fits the criterion well enough.

        Also, I can see the icon in here well enough

      • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        Most Egyptian hieroglyphics are in unicode. However, there are many other reasons for it not to be included.

  • aeronmelon@lemmy.world
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    25 days 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.net
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      24 days 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.world
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        24 days 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.

  • Tippon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    25 days 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.ca
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      25 days 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.com
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        24 days 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.ca
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          24 days ago

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

  • Hal-5700X@sh.itjust.works
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    24 days ago

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

    EDIT Why change something that isn’t broken?

  • Handles@leminal.space
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    24 days 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.ee
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      25 days 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.ee
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        25 days 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.ca
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          25 days 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.ca
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              24 days 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.ca
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      25 days 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.

  • elrik@lemmy.world
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    23 days 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.ee
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    24 days ago

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

  • sunglocto@lemmy.zip
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    25 days 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