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122 comments
AnneTheWriter

@scobiform @FediverseSymbol

Ditto. I was even able to customize it for a blog about #Threads joining the #Fediverse .

The three asterisks seem rather small and not as interconnected as the original rainbow pentagram. I think the pentagram works better as an illustration of how the Fediverse works. The three asterisks are not really connected, they're just kind of floating there.

Is the reason for your proposed "logo change" that there is no emoji for it? Because it would be easier to create an emoji and get Apple & Android to add it to the #emojis library, than to change a symbol over 15 million people have been using.

Also, I think @FediTips and similar accounts would want to give feedback about it. They use it as their symbol.

@scobiform @FediverseSymbol

Ditto. I was even able to customize it for a blog about #Threads joining the #Fediverse .

The three asterisks seem rather small and not as interconnected as the original rainbow pentagram. I think the pentagram works better as an illustration of how the Fediverse works. The three asterisks are not really connected, they're just kind of floating there.

jon ⚝

@FediverseSymbol Nice symbol. Do you also have a proposal to replace the term Fediverse? I know many people, me included, who don't want to or cannot use it as a term in political debates, myself included.

Social Web was once one proposal, Open Socials is another. Maybe you've heard of other alternative naming that is more accessible in its name does not put the effort into a niche?

Raphaël Bastide

@yala @FediverseSymbol Can you elaborate on what is the problem of “fediverse”?

Snaked57

@lunch@tilde.zone @raphael@post.lurk.org @yala@degrowth.social @FediverseSymbol@typo.social I assume it's that "fed", and "confederation", have specific connotations, at least in USA politics (not sure about if that even carries over elsewhere)

Tom Walker

@yala So we're supposed to rename something that already has a name because of some unspecified objection?

jon ⚝

@tomw I don't feel a generic rejection needs any justification. As a first, I just don't like the term.

My reasons for that can be debatable, but not the sentiment.

Tom Walker

@yala I don't like the name "pineapple", shall we rename those too?

The OwlChemist

@tomw @yala It’s been named different by lots of people across the world depending on how they felt about it. You can absolutely rename it again, though Ananas comosus is just fine by me.

jon ⚝

@owlchemist
I really like the Ananas suggestion. This is how we call it in my native language.
@tomw

Krafty :arcolinux: :neovim:

@yala @FediverseSymbol what isn't "accessible" about the term Fediverse? We're not just going to change the name because you have some personal gripe with the term that you refuse to elaborate on.

Ditol

@yala @FediverseSymbol
What's actually wrong with "fediverse"? Seriously, I'd like to understand.

Danu

@ditol @yala @FediverseSymbol people especially in the US who hear it first time think it has something todo with „feds“ like „federal law enforcement“. Not everyone likes or likes to be associated with feds. I also read some people talking about feudalism, although this might be a bit far off.

Ditol

@B3r6ur @yala @FediverseSymbol
Seriously? This is it? So the world has to go by American realities? Again?
I guess, French should stop refer to their universities as "fac", this sounds bad to US-Americans too.

Danu

@ditol @yala @FediverseSymbol I just explained it, I have 0 issues with it personally. Im against change anything here. The problem is, like other people said, if you are in political discussions in a somewhat global community. Some people may have bad thoughts about the term and/or might not understand the origin. Sure other words have the same problem. Also this is not an US only problem, people have coined the term internationally.

Jeff "never puts away anything, especially oven mitts" Cliff, Bringer of Nightmares 🦝🐙 🇱🇧🧯 🇨🇦
@yala @FediverseSymbol The fediverse is what it is called. If you have a problem with calling things by their actual names, the problem is with you.

> Open Socials is another.

This is right up there with the OSI watering down "software freedom" to "open source" to make it easier for microsoft to divide and conquer us
@yala @FediverseSymbol The fediverse is what it is called. If you have a problem with calling things by their actual names, the problem is with you.

> Open Socials is another.
Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@efi Yes, it is sometimes used to separate paragraphs! But symbols can have multiple meanings. For instance @, 🍑, ✕…

Rua

@FediverseSymbol I like both this and the rainbow pentagram.

DELETED

@FediverseSymbol i kinda wish the triangle were point-down - to represent anti-heirarchy / decentralization sorta , since pyramids tend to indicate heirarchy.
but otherwise seems good

Luna Lactea

@FediverseSymbol There are two pentagrams in Unicode, but they don't really show connectedness like the rainbow fediverse logo or this. Them not being circumscribed like the rainbow logo takes alot out of them.
compart.com/en/unicode/U+26E4
compart.com/en/unicode/U+26E7

LiquidParasyte

@Enalys @FediverseSymbol yeah, that was my initial reaction. They argue that it has limited usage since it is only an icon, not a symbol that can be spread everywhere, and using the aster-cluster could be a shorthand supported in Unicode almost anywhere

Cobweb 🍂

@FediverseSymbol but why? Is this something that a lot of people want or need?

Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@shadow06 Those are different concepts. The fediverse defines the ensemble of social networks linked by the protocol Activitypub.

Zink, the Wind's Catch

@FediverseSymbol@typo.social eh. I guess the real issue for the fediverse is there's no real functional logo that could be made for it

also boo minamilism

Deus

@FediverseSymbol It looks like some Family Tree symbol or some Template of a chart in MS Office. Keep things they are please. Don't try too reinvent the wheel.

Eragon

@FediverseSymbol Please demonstrate how the pentagram doesn't scale down. Because I don't see how it would scale down in a worse way that the ⁂ symbol.

Moth
@FediverseSymbol I think as a symbol for the fediverse, the asterism is a little too minimalist. It's clearly meant more for places where images are impractical or impossible to use since it is way too bland and non-descriptive as a large symbol. I like the astronomical connection with the meaning but it's still a bit of a reach. I just don't see it being as useful as a custom-made icon.
FinchHaven

@FediverseSymbol

"Joined Mar 27, 2024"

uhh...

Snowflakes, huh?

Some sort of political commentary, or nah?

Y'all are a little late to the party

So we'll redo everything because ya'll just showed up with your "Manifesto"?

Nope

Nope nope nope nope

#Fediverse

Radgryd

@FediverseSymbol Hmm. Feels way too generic to me. Looks like 3 snowflakes.

Wolf480pl

@FediverseSymbol looks like the symbol for snow they use in weather forecast. Or the symbol for 3rd level of cold used on a fridge.

I think trying to make that a symbol for fediverse is kinda like appropriating a common noun. Confusing at best, malicious at worst.

Deus

@wolf480pl @FediverseSymbol My niece says, "It seems to represent a social media for snowflakes".

Eudaimon ꙮ
@FediverseSymbol Just for completeness, I'll put the link to my post where I proposed a version of this asterism as a possible new logo / icon / symbol for the #Fediverse: https://fe.disroot.org/notice/Ag8qfjARJGHwZMK3Ae . The idea of using the asterism came from a discussion somewhere else (all is explained in the linked post).
It's great that you've come to the same idea in a parallel path! 😊
Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@SocksPls Weird, I have the exact same config and I see it like this. Will investigate, thanks!

Kate (i ❤ blahaj) :unverified:

@FediverseSymbol display dpi issue, I'd guess? are you on any high-dpi settings

Григорий Клюшников

Kate (i ❤ blahaj) :unverified:, looks marginally better for me. I'm using macOS and the font is 11px Tahoma

Григорий Клюшников

It does look gorgeous on a high-dpi display tho

Fediverse Symbol ⁂

what do you think of the initiative @grishka? Would you agree that the pentagram symbol doesnt work at such small sizes with type?

Григорий Клюшников

Fediverse Symbol ⁂, idk, I'm kinda torn between this and the Meta one.

In my mind, Meta's doesn't mean "centralized", it rather means that the bigger planet is your home server and the other ones orbit it. Mastodon and PeerTube introductory videos also make use of the planet metaphor to explain decentralization. As well as Threads, in the explainer when you turn on fediverse sharing.

But then a cluster of three asterisks, or stars, can also mean a constellation (of servers), so it also works.

The pentagram symbol doesn't work as is. But I'm also sure it can be drawn as pixel art at 16x16 to be legible. Naive downscaling rarely produces good results at these sizes. As an example, here's the Smithereen 16x16 favicon I drew pixel by pixel at that size:

Fediverse Symbol ⁂, idk, I'm kinda torn between this and the Meta one.

In my mind, Meta's doesn't mean "centralized", it rather means that the bigger planet is your home server and the other ones orbit it. Mastodon and PeerTube introductory videos also make use of the planet metaphor to explain decentralization. As well as Threads, in the explainer when you turn on fediverse sharing.

wakest ⁂

@grishka @FediverseSymbol I don't particularly hate the Meta symbol other then it feels pretty uncomfortable for them to come in and make up a new symbol with absolutely no conversation with "the community" and then other platforms like Flipboard start using it and it ends up feeling like encroachment. But I can also see how that can just come across as paranoia to some people. The ⁂ symbol does have the cool advantage that the :corporate_fediverse: symbol doesn't have which is Unicode

Григорий Клюшников

Fediverse Symbol ⁂, ok so I've redrawn all three icons at 16x16, mostly quantized to the pixel grid. The top center asterisk is annoying because it has to be offset by half-pixel horizontally for the icon to be centered in its frame. The pentagram is somewhat more readable like this, but still something of a colorful pixel jumble. And to no one's surprise, the Meta's icon wins because it's so simple geometrically.

linguistic chaos goblin

@FediverseSymbol I'm impressed that my screenreader (correctly, apparently) reads this as "asterism"! That's a good accessibility point in its favor too.

Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@F100 @trygvekalland 'therefore' is smooth dots like ∴, the asterism is three asterisk * together ⁂

F100

@FediverseSymbol true but if you smush the dots like pancakes you get asterisks.

Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@F100 pancakes are lovely so that's a good thing

Old man near the sea

@FediverseSymbol It looks to me like three cogs that should be happily spinning together but which have unfortunately got stuck.

Scott Frazer

@FediverseSymbol honestly, reminds me too much of the Greendale Community College flag from the TV Show Community.

Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@sfrazer434 Hahaha we do have three an…asterisks instead of one though, so we are much more pluribus.

Krafty :arcolinux: :neovim:

@FediverseSymbol I like this idea! I don't want to abandon the current symbol but I imagine they could coexist alright

Sam Livingston-Gray

@FediverseSymbol @getalifemike my immediate thought was "a dinkus?" I had to look it up to see that they were distinct (but related) 😂

Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@geeksam @getalifemike Oh yes in a way the asterism is absolutely a variant of dinkus, simply one in a triangle layout :) The original usage is pretty much the same.

Davey

@FediverseSymbol we might be a pack of assholes but this is ridiculous :D

Raf

@FediverseSymbol why not optimise the pentagom as a meaningfully named emoji design and submit it to the Unicode Consortium folks? It's worthy of a design project. unicode.org/emoji/proposals.ht It's big enough to be taken seriously and would result in improved accessibility etc.

Vicente

@FediverseSymbol I like it. this is the first time I'm seeing this but it's cool. I'm in!

squalouJenkins

@FediverseSymbol My microwave has one of those on a button already :D

(This toot was meant to break the ice)

Fediverse Symbol ⁂

@squalouJenkins Fediverse-enabled microwave, now we’re talking!

Silvenga

@FediverseSymbol growing up in California, I just see the "my crazy life" tattoo...

olive ⁂

@FediverseSymbol This is delightful! The asterism has been part of my personal mythos-symbology (is there a word for that?) for a while, with similar themes. This is a good motivator to write a blog post about that :)

luiiuuuiiiii

@FediverseSymbol I really like it! It actually looks a bit like the Chinese character 森, meaning forest. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%A3%

Slim Amamou

@FediverseSymbol it's cold, sharp and inorganic. it has even a cube at it's center. the pentagram suffers from the same defect (but is slightly better because of the rainbow). that's why I prefer meta's symbol which does not represent a centralized network, but it represents one node and one connection. and thus represents the point of view of the user, not the system

Sean Tilley

@FediverseSymbol There’s some nice ideas here! I’m still conceptually in love with the pentagram logo, but this is still miles better than the corporate goatse logo.

billothekid2

@FediverseSymbol Is there some kind of problem with the current symbol?

CatSalad🐈🥗 (D.Burch) :blobcatrainbow:

@FediverseSymbol ⁂ is a good one. ❉ is a nice one too, but it kind of resembles ActivityPub more than the Fediverse itself.

⁂ U+2042: ASTERISM
❉ U+2749: BALLOON-SPOKED ASTERISK

Slim Amamou

@FediverseSymbol also "asterism" sounds like an ideology invented by elon musk

Ñuman

@FediverseSymbol I think it can be an addition instead of a replacement and use the both, one for icon and the other one for text, maybe could be a website like ⁂.com or ⁂.yourwebsite.com
you can easily search for it on the web browser with ctrl^f and that is really cool.

PaulaToThePeople

@FediverseSymbol I generally like the idea for a unicode symbol for the Fediverse, though I'd not replace the pentagram with it, but use both, depending on the use case.

What I definitely don't like is this top down approach. "Hey, here is a new symbol for the Fediverse. Spread it!". Shouldn't this be a democratic process?

Elliot K

@FediverseSymbol I feel like the colors in the default logo are important. For me it represent different instances with different purposes. Mastodon isn't just a cluster of servers talking to each other, it's the people using it - which is represented by colors nicely right now.

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