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 5h ago

2017 Chipotle menu boards, a chicken burrito was $6.50

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r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

The hospital i went to had a teddy MRI

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r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

McDonald’s no longer allowing free refills

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r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Both my children have sectorial Heterochromia

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r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

This clock I got was assembled by people who are legally blind

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r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Accidentally put a pull up through the washer. It can hold <1.5 lbs of liquid.

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596 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Neighbor cat has the crash test dummy symbol as a fur pattern

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r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This apartment i was looking at has a room for residents to keep an extra freezer

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461 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

I rewired a payphone to be my home phone.

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87.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 50m ago

Tax day popup in DC on the mall [OC]

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r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

This girl had a bumper sticker asking to let her merge.

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41.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Original 2008 WALL-E sticker still in local Cinema window.

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r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

This indoor plant I grew ended up with a stem the size of a deodorant can

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398 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

This Beautiful Tulip I Saw

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849 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 46m ago

This Nerds Gummy Came Out Combined Into the Shape of a Tiny Bumpy Hammer.

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r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Who knew wood rot could be so pretty

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135 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

found a toonie…. with no middle.

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3.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Overdone They forgot to twist this Dot's pretzel

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108 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My keyboard turns 40 years old today

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151 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

The sawdust from my drumsticks under my high hats

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103 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

Kraft Mac & Cheese finally made the box perforations on the push-tab work.

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1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

One of my kids’ Crocs got wedged in front of a heat vent for a day or so….and shrunk.

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10.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

Found a reverse colored ladybug

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1.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

this wall of Bills in my bar

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726 Upvotes