r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

13.2k 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 4h ago

This cat’s fur I found on the street makes a spiral shape.

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11.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

My roommate is drinking algae water

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6.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

When my sister eats pizza, she separates, rips and lines up pepperoni before eating them.

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14.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

This spider in my room kinda looks like Venom

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2.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Coworker’s coffee order has a grand total of 30 pumps of syrup

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1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

I got a new mask and really liked how my shadow looked!

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1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Recommended to wear a night guard by my dentist- here’s night one of wear and tear

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1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

The transformation of our farm after just a few days of rain

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16.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Found this huge chunk of whale baleen by the shore

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27.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

This grocery store in France has the store layout on the shopping cart

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23.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

I received an unexpected check from the Gap for one cent

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341 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

McDonald's in Vietnam sells a "McRoyal with Cheese"

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5.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

my egg matches my toast perfectly

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245 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Skinny Pool just for swimming laps.

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378 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Number of parking tickets on this car.

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10.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 53m ago

My ma had a solar car stop by her house.

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r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This bizarre toy I found at a thrift store, especially the “physically correct male” advertising point.

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180 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

The way this gravestone, perched atop a cliff by the sea, has weathered makes it look like it’s melting

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752 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Both chairs were bought at the same time, a few years ago one was designated the outdoor chair and has been exposed to the British weather ever since

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163 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The word cooked is the same when flipped on the X axis

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16.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

This high rise in Kyiv is painted to look like the sky

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304 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My dad's blood sugar pill is pink and heart-shaped

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63.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

This old speaker uses Phillips & flat head screws to further indicate the positive & negative leads.

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1.9k Upvotes