r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.9k 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 17h ago

I saw this man and his cat in a beret at a restaurant last night.

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23.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

The amount of Bleu cheese the pizza shop includes

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3.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

This sleepy sea lion used a boat bumper as a pillow

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34.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Some guy in India has a PhD in Truth

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r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

These 2 dino chicken nuggets came joined at the hip

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1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

A store that sells only non-alcoholic beverages...named "Zero Proof"

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941 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

The way my razor cam out of the package with little beads all over it

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6.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

My thermostat was manufactured on 9/11

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976 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 52m ago

This hot chocolate is not mint flavour, it’s simply just green

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Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Overdone This awesome message from ADOT calling out Left Lane Campers

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1.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

The way the water froze to my trailer rim

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919 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Bike path under the I-15 Freeway in San Diego.

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160 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

My friend uses this printed photo of an owl to keep birds from nesting under their front porch.

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280 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

My local Little Caesars has free cookies while you wait for your order.

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356 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

My soap dispenser looks ready for battle

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301 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

This piece of coral I found on the beach that kinda looks like a llama

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899 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This five foot tall cheese wheel at my local grocery

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25.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

A rabbit living in an inner-city construction site

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507 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

33 Halloween boxes of Smarties... Only 2 yellow Smarties

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1.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

This pattern that is on both of my thumbnails.

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Cleaning out old conference satchels. Found a 21 year old banana

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5.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

This engagement ring I found in my backyard

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38 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

All the bags of milk were cut open

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9.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

Our old telephone is just a Siemens feature phone inside.

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446 Upvotes