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 11h ago

I can see the Big Dipper from my bed

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69.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

The pattern made in the sand from shooting

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6.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Do Not take any parts of the Dead Whale.

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

I opened a fun-sized Skittles pouch and there were exactly three of each flavor.

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

My air purifier can make a ballon float indefinitely without it drifting off.

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r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

134g of meat in my 100g of ham

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5.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

My Tick Bite Bullseye from 13 Years Ago.

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31.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

The McDonalds I went to still has a Ronald McDonald statue

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312 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Every night hundreds of ants gather under this light and die en masse

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10.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

This sign is at least 25 years old and refers to 3 companies that have gone out of business

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6.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

The onion rings I got today had two interlocked

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524 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

full photo albums that my granny created for our family vs. how many pictures of her are in them

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2.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

This caterpillar has a little hat

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346 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

I found this huge dead beetle while walking back home:/ I buried it

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Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

The cat looks like they’re burning in the reflection of the glass.

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433 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

My local deli prices the 4in from 10" to 14" much higher than the 4in from 6" to 10"

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330 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The Barbershop in this Small Town Opens at 4am

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6.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

Aunt got a cane at a yard sale, turns out it's a smugglers cane

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962 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Spherical egg i found at work

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249 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Arrived at an AirBnB where they asked each guest that stayed to draw a red leaf on the wall. There are hundreds like these.

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125 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

There's a McDonald's in Hamburg with a drive-thru for boats

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1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

I have a light bulb in my rented apartment that only lights up when the power is out and generator is on

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51 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Saw a random person dressed in full Plague Doctor outfit today reading a book at the park in Dickson TN. It is 86* outside.

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35.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

Accidently ran a ball of yarn through the laundry

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353 Upvotes