Operator Pass on instance listing could perhaps be seen as a "verification mark"?

one of the perks of the operator pass is a mark of recognition next to your instance on the official instance listing. this feels like it could look to a user like a "verification mark", as if that instance is better to have an account on or something. but being listed is free and requires following certain guidelines; it's not an exhaustive list of every public instance no matter what. so theoretically every instance should be held to the same standards which means they're all decent homes, so it's weird to mark any of them specially, as "Operators". in particular, if a user hasn't read about the operator pass, this feels like it does not convey the relationship well. it makes it seem as it that is perhaps an official Fluxer instance of some kind?

i think it would make more sense in a server listing to have terminology like "donator", which makes it more clear that "the operators of this instance have financially supported the Fluxer project, but it's subject to the same quality standards as the rest of these instances". i'm not against having a mark of recognition, i just worry that it might be a mark of endorsement or affiliation.

i could perhaps make this argument for why "Visionary" and "Plutonium" should also be called just "donator" and i get that it's important to have some kind of branding. but specifically "operator" on the instance listing feels weird because like... all instance operators are operators even if they don't have an Operator Pass™? the word "operator" is being overloaded, especially in the instance list. it feels like it might imply something like "the operator for this instance is competent" when really it's more just an important blue internet checkmark. of course because of the listing requirements, i don't see that it could be very susceptible to abuse. it's not like operators can intentionally mislead others with this very easily; they'd get caught and keeping that con up would get expensive. but even if malicious abuse is impractical, it still feels iffy the way it's currently pitched. also note that don't otherwise think the operator pass needs to be renamed (even if i do think operator overloading is generally impractical, even beyond the instance listing). i only intend to criticize that in the instance listing, it might be sending a very wrong signal to what is likely to be users that have never used Fluxer and have never heard of the Operator Pass before.