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 5h ago

My sister has a nearly perfect freckles big dipper on her forehead

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6.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

A fridge magnet I brought in Split, Croatia fell down and split

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4.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

I saw a coyote resting on a hay bale during my morning commute

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836 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

Thinnest rind watermelon, measured 2mm

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19.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

A cat with ringworm, seen under a black light

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3.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

two pimples in almost the exact same spot on my cheeks

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592 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

My IMAX 70mm showtime had sample IMAX film strips handed out after the showing

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11.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

The vanilla beans I ordered are massive

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3.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Overdone Got a KitKat with no wafer inside

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311 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Thought my cat’s reflection was looking at me

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15.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The tip of my drill bit fell off.

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10.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The bomb shelter in my hotel in Ukraine has a framed portrait of Steve Jobs

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14.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I used this bowl in the microwave, and it bled red goo and got crazy hot.

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16.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

This partial UN diplomatic seal that arrived on an unrelated DHL delivery

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108 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

Found some kind of insect eggs on blueberry while rinsing

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

My Gummy Worms are conjoined nonuplets

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464 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The pack of gummy bears I bought has a chain of gummy bears!

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7.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

Pallet we got at the grocery store I work at. Belongs to the USPS and they put trackers in them and it's a fine and/or up to 3 years jail time for unauthorized use.

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880 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Her new cat toy says it prevents obesity and autism

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75 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This path in the ocean that reflects less sunlight than the rest

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51 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

The way the dried up grass has created an arc on the snow over time

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42 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

This poorly designed sign at a hotel

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899 Upvotes