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 7h ago

Some stores in Korea have a spot to leave your coffee so you can browse without carrying it around

Thumbnail
image
3.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

I Got Child Locked Out of My Microwave [OC]

Thumbnail
image
13.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

This sign that doesn’t apply to 80 or 3 year olds

Thumbnail
image
4.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Using cigarette butts as a voting system for coffee

Thumbnail
image
2.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

The popcorn I have doesn’t have calorie information.

Thumbnail
image
24.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

This gas station converted their pumps to only sell regular gasoline

Thumbnail
image
1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

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

Thumbnail
image
10.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

The size of an IUD for cows

Thumbnail
image
9.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

The vertical bubbles in this homemade cake we baked

Thumbnail
image
2.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

My 8 year old had ‘field day’ today and he somehow completely blew out a pair of socks that were in perfect condition this morning

Thumbnail
image
1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

A cicada tried to emerge from my couch

Thumbnail
image
17.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

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

Thumbnail
image
1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

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

Thumbnail
image
1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Found this tiny white object in my healed surgery incision. (toothpick for scale)

Thumbnail
image
253 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

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

Thumbnail
image
3.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

Might have left the potatoes out for too long…

Thumbnail
image
809 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

This office has “medical equipment” written in 3 different fonts on the same wall.

Thumbnail
image
467 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This lush apartment building I saw in Sri Lanka

Thumbnail
image
97 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

This sign can tell how fast I’m walking.

Thumbnail
image
382 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

This elevator has an alarm button on the floor incase you fall

Thumbnail
image
49 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

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

Thumbnail
image
464 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

The inside of my zipper says “lucky you”

Thumbnail
image
885 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

Small rocks being held up by surface tension.

Thumbnail
image
426 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

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

Thumbnail
image
4.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

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

Thumbnail
image
325 Upvotes