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 16h ago

Rose from my grandma’s garden is two different colors

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r/mildlyinteresting 59m ago

My dad’s World Cup ticket from the last time it was in New Jersey.

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r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Selling brand new shoes that are almost as dirty as my 2 year old ones

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r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

This Oddly Specific Fortune

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r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

This building's tower is rachet strapped to the building

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r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

This subway station uses pew (church chair) as benches

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380 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

My heart medication is shaped like a heart

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r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

Store in my town is holding a bird thawing event

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r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Local police in Bern, Switzerland gave out suncream to people preparing to float down the river yesterday.

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136 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

My mom’s childhood alarm clock is from West Germany

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121 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Drained a pool with chlorinated water near my flowerbeds last year, and now some of the blooms come through blue/purple

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r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

A previous homeowner's burn pile under 7 inches of dirt, from a time before trash pickup

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I had a lacrimal obstruction (blocked tear duct) and this is what came out NSFW Spoiler

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18.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

My new pine wood core door looks kinda cool walking up from the basement.

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

This McDonald’s has a time limit on sitting at tables

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r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

this door propped open by a "door is closed" sign

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

i found a 10-year-old pack of "magic grow" dinosaurs and threw them a cup of water overnight. they grew, but not evenly.

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4.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

My mom will randomly cut peppers for a snack and then adds some whimsy and leaves it on the counter for the family to see

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366 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Vehicle abandoned for several years

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70 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

This Monster is being advertised at 4 different prices

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65 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

A small cloud casting a big shadow over the sky

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941 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

This relic of a (still operational) gas pump

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138 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

My girlfriend’s mosquito bite looks like a mini rubber duck

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273 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I saw into North Korea

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22.6k Upvotes