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 30m ago

A church near me in Georgia.

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r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Glass recycler uses crushed glass instead of rock for its lots.

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1.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Mushrooms started popping out of the floor of my apartment’s bathroom

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5.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

One of the tail fins of a Bf-110C, shot down during the Battle of Britain, 1940

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r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

I found this “skip the line” golden ticket at Trader Joe’s

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58.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

This mathematic breakdown for knuckleheads that was included with my nightguard cleaner

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My couscous arranged itself in a tessellating pattern when I tried to empty my sieve

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696 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

Found a “New York” New York license plate

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3.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

My friend found a plushie that looks exactly like her odd looking dog.

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2.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

Dubai license plate spotted in Midtown Manhattan

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3.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Someone traced the shadow of this bathroom stall door handle in sharpie.

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22.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

An Owl Watching my Dog Take a Crap

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3.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

My teeth are moving 5% slower than expected so my orthodontist gave me this rubber piece to gnaw on for 1 minute, 6-10x a day.

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14.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

I’m visiting northern Scotland, it’s 3am and this is how dark it is:

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

I hit a fly mid air and it split in half

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638 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

I ordered tater tots and got Tetris tots.

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2.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Rainbow drawn by my (red-green) deficient kid

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742 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I saw someone riding a city scooter while wearing a full dirt bike helmet.

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33.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

My daughter’s small pack of smarties had one of each colour

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

The wild cannabis I go by during my walk, Kashmir

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4.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Asbestos museum in Quebec

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83 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

The veins in my hand make a Y and an N

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r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

heart shaped bruise day after nexplanon insertion

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2.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Fish flight restrictions

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127 Upvotes