r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

13.1k 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 7h ago

Imprinted lines from my workout leggings

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35.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

My neighbors recently got a pet Zebra

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11.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

This Coke can was manufactured 2 days ago. Probably the freshest Coke I’ve ever had.

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5.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

My Local AMC Theater has an incorrect Star Wars quote.

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8.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

I spilled a latte and it looks like a gorilla

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1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

This back scrubber my dad says he’s had since the 80s

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3.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Calf born an hour ago

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3.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Traffic showing red and green lights

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

My package came with someone’s phone in it

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29.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

The local deer in my town adopted this goat.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Overdone Every single E.L. Fudge cookie was put together at the factory inside out.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

The ceramic plates at this pizza spot were made to look like paper plates.

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703 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

My Dutch hotel room card key is made of wood.

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439 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Music note in my bread

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1.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

House centipedes keep getting stuck in this bowl, eating their dead comrades, and then dying themselves, only to feed the next victim.

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20.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

I bought a 3lb box of "imperfect" Russell Stovers candy for $9

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12.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Warnings on my new desk chair warn against firing a gun in the reclined position

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552 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

I cast a long shadow

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1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

The way this bruise presents on my fingertip

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452 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

My Japanese Barberry shrub has one massive cluster of branches growing together

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775 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

One of my ice cubes sinking in a glass of water

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r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Not Hand Sanitizer!

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233 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

My chicken dumplings had an apple and cinnamon filling

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240 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

My right pupil is off centre

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1.9k Upvotes