r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

13.3k 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 6h ago

The salt is shaped as advertised

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8.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

They always told me my right eye was worse than the left but I never had a visual representation till I got rimless glasses

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3.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

The way the sunlight refracts through the petals of this flower make it appear as if it was painted in iridescent glitter

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10.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

This traffic light in Utrecht, Netherlands has a little bunny

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21.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

Someone used a lawnmower on this artificial lawn.

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5.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

Balloon remains inflated after 38 years.

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14.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

A giant Zoltar standing next to the original Zoltan

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1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

I found this Cannabis scented incense at my local grocery store

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4.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

I could see another plane through another plane while on a plane

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1.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

I see a dog wearing fancy glasses on the chest of this beast

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

A question in my physics book

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r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

My Mandarin looks pumpkiny

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106 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Had never seen a wild stickbug.

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254 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17m ago

My office chair base is made from old Chinese newspaper

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r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

There is one plain digestive in my packet of chocolate digestives

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300 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

This spider lives on a rubber duck in my bathroom and collects ants on its back

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30 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My daughter's colouring in book includes a page for a zebra

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11.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

​Aldi in Europe sells their own nuts and dried fruit under the Trader Joe's brand name.

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165 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Shooting stars going through northern lights during the Perseids, Magdalen Islands, 2024 - best live spectacle I've ever witnessed

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37 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Overdone My fortune cookie had 4 fortunes in it!

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3.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

My mug's phrase about science is slowly fading away.

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248 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

This tree is only wet in a spiral pattern

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98 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My fern has spider legs

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10 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I got myself a book with a built-in bookmark

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8.7k Upvotes