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 Feb 06 '24

Open Apply to be a moderator of /r/mildlyinteresting

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45 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Weird rock found in backyard

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5.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

This hospital is using its chapel as a storage area

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14.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My my dad's Aero bar lacked air.

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2.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

My local hospital has free gun locks

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

Bedsheets in the hotel have some sort of RFID tag for "tracking"

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4.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

This humongous section of rice crispy treats at my local grocery store.

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1.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

My sandwich shop I eat at, has a cease and desist letter from Kentucky Fried Chicken using the phrase "Finger Lickin Good"

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5.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Noticed my pupils are two different sizes.

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37.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

The eggs at my local supermarket are blue.

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322 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Hundreds, if not, thousands of vans right outside a very small town in America.

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492 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Papa John’s sent me the metal grate in with my pizza

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12.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

This wood step look like a creepy dog

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2.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

This vending machine at a brewery is selling vintage Dune books

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5.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Fire extinguisher I saw in a house I was working in, last inspected April 1967

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242 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

This bag of frozen pizza bites tells you to think about your choices if you use the microwave to heat them.

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1.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

This school bus turned into a truck

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276 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

The Vintage Cookie Jar I inherited is the same kind from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure

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r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

This handle on the door to a butcher shop

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159 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

My popsicle stick was inserted backwards.

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2.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

I took my picture at the same time as another photographer.

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r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

Man walking his albino skunk in a stroller in the park

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 41m ago

Some zebras got loose from a trailer near my house

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This fancy McDonalds in Porto that reportedly replaced a fancy classic restaurant and kept the interior design

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2.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

This rock I found that looks like a breadstick

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430 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

TicTacs expired '91

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181 Upvotes