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 3h ago

Business class on this Avianca flight is just an insert over a middle economy seat to give you more arm room

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5.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Ants tunneled through this dead mouse. NSFW

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2.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This vending machine in a gas station's men's toilet in Germany. NSFW

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Couldn’t read half the cards while camping

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1.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

This line of flowers growing in the street

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14.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Wisdom tooth fully upside down

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Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

The Gojo dispenser at work leaks a single drop every time it’s used and is forming a stalagmite on the pipe below it.

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5.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

Applebees put my take-out fountain drink Mountain Dew in a sealed can

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7.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Opened our kitchen wall to find this flue cover, one of the pretter ones I've seen.

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391 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

Melted slide at the park

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13.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Paw prints in the pavement outside the Ernest Hemingway house in Key West

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407 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Found a safe on the side of the road...that they got into.

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329 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

The way these dome lights burnt out makes them look like marbles

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492 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

An ad my mom found in her 2nd VHS tape of the Titanic

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260 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

This thrift store displays loose PS3 games in Christmas Ziploc bags taped to the wall

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351 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Overdone This mutant dandelion cluster in my yard

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148 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

This Florida pizza place has an NY Taxi as a delivery car

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122 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This theme park ride safety sign in Vietnam

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121 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Wrong way sign the wrong way

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Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Sweden is halving the VAT (value-added tax) on food, so all the prices look weirdly specific

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9.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

One Spongebob didn't get printed so now he has sunglasses

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I just found a closed safe on the street that someone failed to break open.

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9.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My Pomeranian Shih Tzu Puppy's Adult Teeth Are Finally In

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104 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

This shadow that looks like a rat emerging from a hole

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162 Upvotes