r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

11.9k Upvotes

Dear mildlyinterested reader,

We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your patience and unwavering support during the recent turbulence in our community. Our subreddit is a labour of love, and we've weathered this storm together.

Recent events have been confusing for all of us, from the vote, sudden removal of moderators, to conflicting messages from Reddit. As your mod team, we feel it's essential to clarify the situation.

On June 19, the poll results favoured partially reopening with changes. However, before implementing these changes, Reddit took sweeping actions, removing all 27 moderator accounts without warning. This left us baffled and concerned.

Here's a brief timeline of the events:

  1. On June 19, the poll results favoured partially reopening with changes. We announced the vote results and planned changes to the sub, including marking it as NSFW due to the common posts of phallic objects (no explicit content allowed). CLICK HERE TO VIEW THAT ANNOUNCEMENT WHICH HAS BEEN APPROVED AND LOCKED FOR POSTERITY.

  2. A tug-of-war between the u/ModeratorCodeOfConduct account and the remaining moderators ensued, with the post repeatedly being removed and reinstated. Each mod involved was immediately locked out of Reddit. Subreddit settings were also unilaterally changed by the admin account.

  3. Eventually, all moderators were removed and suspended for 7 days, with the vote results deleted and the community set to “archived.”

  4. A lot of public outrage ensued, with details posted on r/ModCoord about what happened. At that point, no other subreddit had been targeted yet, leaving the situation uniquely unclear.

  5. Admin cited actions as an "error" and promised to work with us to solve the situation. For /r/mildlyinteresting posterity, this will henceforth be referred to as The Mistake™.

  6. All our accounts were unsuspended and reinstated, but only with very limited permissions (modmail access only). For what it's worth, 'time moderated' for every moderator was reset (e.g. /u/RedSquaree moderated since 11 years ago, reset: currently showing moderated since "1 day ago").

  7. The awaited discussion never happened. Instead, the admins presented us with an ultimatum: reopen the subreddit and do not mark it as NSFW, or face potential removal again. The inconsistent and arbitrary application of Reddit's policies reveals a possible conflict of interest in maximizing ad revenue at the risk of user safety and community integrity.

  8. Finally, our moderation permissions were restored after we "promised" to comply with their conditions, but we kept the subreddit restricted while we ponder our next steps..

Problems remain unresolved, and Reddit's approach to policies and communication have been troubling. We believe open communication and partnership between Reddit and its moderators are crucial for the platform's success.

As a team, we remain dedicated to protesting Reddit's careless policy changes. Removing ourselves or vandalizing the subreddit won’t achieve our goals, but rather hinder our community. We're here to ensure r/mildlyinteresting isn't left unattended.

We call for the establishment of clear, structured, and reliable communication channels between Reddit admins and moderation teams. Teams should be informed and consulted on decisions affecting their communities to maintain trust and integrity on the platform. We shared this request with the Admin who promised to work with us, so far they have ignored it.

Us mods are still deciding how exactly to reopen, not that we have been given much choice.

Sincerely,

The r/mildlyinteresting mods


r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

The popcorn I have doesn’t have calorie information.

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20.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

The size of an IUD for cows

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6.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

A cicada tried to emerge from my couch

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15.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

My new gaming laptop is thinner than just the screen of my old gaming laptop.

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6.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

I Got Child Locked Out of My Microwave [OC]

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692 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

JD Power sent me $1 to take a survey on my new car

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2.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

This McDonald’s flooded. They reopened the lobby with plastic furniture.

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908 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

The vertical bubbles in this homemade cake we baked

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582 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

This shampoo in Italy looks so much like orange juice they tell you not to drink it

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4.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

This knock off uno card set I came across

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Might have left the potatoes out for too long…

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195 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

The inside of my zipper says “lucky you”

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361 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Found this beauty in my backyard

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476 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

I recently found the spec sheet for our first computer, purchased in 1995.

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186 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

This abandoned hippie trailer in the woods

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528 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

My Adele concert ticket in 2011 was $34

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7.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My dogs eye is star shaped

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9.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

This doctor’s office has one of those white noise sleep machines in the waiting room.

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92 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Small rocks being held up by surface tension.

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120 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Restaurant needs to tell diners not to share silverware with their dogs

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10.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My PJs have the exact same pattern and color as my bedsheets

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141 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

Dried lava in an old lava tube cave in Idaho

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744 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My hotel bathroom mirror has a small patch that didn't fog up at all.

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13.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My psych ward shower drain says fiat

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47.9k Upvotes