Hi, my friends! It’s been a cool minute since I last posted here (I’ve been a little mentally burnt out for a bit, oops~), but I wanted to get the word out about something that’s been going on with Janitor regarding the verification process.

Back when my account was verified, I had to meet a certain set of criteria. I don’t remember the exact details, but I do recall having to qualify for at least two out of three requirements to earn the checkmark. It was the same for a lot of people I know, and though the system was a little skewed in the favor of those who made bots in popular fandom spaces or bots that fit a specific niche, it worked okay.

Verification on Janitor carries a lot of weight. On most platforms, verification usually means you’re seen as a reputable creator or expert in your field (or, in the case of X, that you paid for it). On Janitor, though, it’s viewed as a mark of quality and trustworthiness. People are more likely to use bots and follow creators with that checkmark because it signals credibility and quality content.

There are so many creators in the community who’ve been working hard toward verification - people who see it as their ultimate goal and truly deserve to achieve it. My friends and I have jokingly called it the "blue serotonin mark" for a long time because it feels good to look at your profile and see it there, because it truly does make it feel like you've accomplished something huge.

However, verification apparently no longer works the same way. I don’t think I can post outside links here, but on the Janitor subreddit, someone recently shared a response from a Janitor mod stating that creator verification as “something to be applied for, no longer a service that Janitor offers,” and that “the only way people get verified now is if Shep likes a bot he uses and rewards the user with verification.”

Yes, you read that right. Verification is now completely random - and entirely up to Shep. From what I understand, he’s supposed to be focusing on coding JLLM V2 or fixing bugs, so I doubt he’s spending much time browsing bots. On the flip side, if he is handing out verifications regularly, that means he’s spending more time using bots than, you know...actually working on the website.

Overall, it’s a mess. No one really knows how things will move forward from here, but there have been talks about revamping the system entirely - removing verification from everyone, replacing it with a legacy badge, or making it achievement-based (like, “Oh, you hit 100 followers, so you get X”). I strongly encourage everyone who uses Janitor regularly to check out the official subreddit and Discord - especially the development feedback threads - to stay informed and up to date on what’s happening.

Love you guys. Stay warm out there, and more bots coming soon (hopefully)! 💙

TL;DR: Shep was, for an unknown time frame, only verifying people who's bots he used and enjoyed. No one knows what is going to happen with the verification system/verified badges going forward. Check the official subreddit and Discord for more details.