@FediverseSymbol you also say this: "@ 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."

These are not the symbols you should compare to. The most recent symbol that makes sense to compare to is the AI twinkles ✨.

https://qz.com/how-became-the-unofficial-ai-emoji-1851059332

The asterism seems really close to it.

Nobody puts an @ on a web page to show what to click to send email. They put an envelope ✉️.

@FediverseSymbol another symbol to compare to is the share icon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_icon?wprov=sfla1

@FediverseSymbol a couple more:

Attachments: 📎
Links: 🔗

@FediverseSymbol I think it would be a good idea to show some recommended uses of the icon. How would you show that I can Fediverse-like an image on a Web page? How to show that I can join a group? Follow an author? In a list of links to my various profiles, which ones are Fediverse enabled?

@evan Yees, we actually had the share icon and the RSS icon as references when thinking about it! Link and attachments are good prior art too thanks. Edit: Oops, switched instance, but still @nclm answering.

@FediverseSymbol finally, I understand the motivation of wanting to show the topology of the Fediverse - a network with nodes and edges.

@FediverseSymbol but what if instead of trying to make a teeny weeny abstract diagram of the Fediverse, the focus were more personal -- about making a connection between two people, no matter where they are and what social networking service they use?

"Follow me on any network."

"Follow me wherever you get your socials."

https://www.anildash.com/2024/02/06/wherever-you-get-podcasts/

@FediverseSymbol what symbol would you use for that? Would it still be the asterism?

@FediverseSymbol I think the strongest point of this symbol is that it looks like a special asterisk, and we're used to seeing those at the ends of words to show that there's something more about them.

@evan In an ideal world, ⁂ would be after every item in this list, so maybe useless in the end. Until that time, ⁂ can help to make following choices.

ALT

@FediverseSymbol @evan
⁂ is nice as a symbol for the #Fediverse
but there is a well known symbol already.
It should become an #Unicode
I don‘t care about Meta.
Who should ask whom?

ALT

@FediverseSymbol so that

Evan Prodromou ⁂

... means something.

But what?

@evan In UI on a social app that have both local interactions and outside interactions, it could mean the second one, something like “someone from another server” / “someone from the wider fediverse”.

Or if you write it yourself, it might be more like “⁂ @evan” as “this is my fediverse handle, no matter the platform”