Note that if supported by the font you use, the three symbols will usually be drawn the same way as an asterisk (*) in that font. This means a lot of variation.
Several typefaces’ rendering of Unicode U+2042 ASTERISM:
I think the diversity is alright! It’s like the Fediverse: instances follow a standard to work with each other but can be heavily customized without breaking integration.
It’s in Unicode, duh… Otherwise, you’d need an image to represent it.
I agree. As long as anonymous voting doesn’t cause obvious trolling/spam issues, it should be preferred.
One of the reasons I’ve always found Facebook off-putting and never used it (even before learning about the shady practices) are the very visible votes. I tend to overanalyse any reaction and would judge people based on their votes on my posts, even if I consciously tried to avoid it. Similarly, I imagine some other people would do the same and I’d feel like I’m under surveillance.
A surprisingly serious typeface from Adobe Fonts.
IMO, the most egregious one is Essay Text.