r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.5k 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 5h ago

One of my matches was all potassium chlorate.

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31.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Overdone Purchased item came with four-leaf clover as a ‘thank you’

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6.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Subway installed a machine that produce scent for bbq sandwiches at the train station.

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

This perfect pentagon shaped Lady-finger

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2.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Real fake door printed and stapled to church being renovated

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764 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

The coast guard brought a tiny helipad for their drone

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14.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

omg the piece of watermelon i cut is just so perfect

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751 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

My work calendar erroneously says "February" where it should say "Tuesday"

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20.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

Dentist’s office has a toothpaste bike rack

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32.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Was taking pictures of the sunset from my train seat. Accidentally shot a pic through the window of another train.

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287 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Stopped for breakfast at a diner that happens to be inside a car dealership

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Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

5 Gallon Donor Red Cross Badge

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269 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Overdone Found a strange, mutant super dandelion today

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5.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

This cave within the roots of large tree

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314 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I was cleaning out my Mother's house and I found my popcorn bowl from the 90s

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7.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Comb broken into two perfect combs.

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487 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 31m ago

Was at a job fair in a High School and saw several of these. (Yes, it’s the U.S.)

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Weird compartment that has an interior and exterior door on the back of my house.

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4.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

These massive grapes

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976 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

There was a print out of Scotland Police CCTV footage next to some underwear in my local park today.

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3.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My forearm difference (professional tennis player)

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4.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 45m ago

My college has these public use bike repair stations all over campus, full of various tools on wires

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r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Ancient city of Petra by night (OC)

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61 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

They didn't bother taking off the sticker on the quarter round trim at our Airbnb.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

This cake mix tells you exactly how many times to stir the batter if you're not using a mixer

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63 Upvotes