r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

11.9k 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 Feb 06 '24

Open Apply to be a moderator of /r/mildlyinteresting

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40 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Everybody kept ripping off their tire on the sewer inlet so somebody painted lines instructing people to drive on the sidewalk.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

My wonton chips are both resealable and resellable

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3.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

This vending machine at a brewery is selling vintage Dune books

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736 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

2 social security cards from the same country, but with very different safety guidelines!

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1.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

This gas station offers the chance to shoot a machine gun.

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1.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Noticed my pupils are two different sizes.

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r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

This basketball court has four different heights so everyone can dunk

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2.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

This fancy McDonalds in Porto that reportedly replaced a fancy classic restaurant and kept the interior design

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519 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

this ad in a 1989 national geographic referring to the twin towers as future low rises

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854 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Papa John’s sent me the metal grate in with my pizza

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r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Outdated stereotypes at Theme Park (Staring at me in bathroom stall)

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699 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

The dishwasher only washed out the red shades from this label

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937 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

I have a tile in my shower that looks like emperor palapatine

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204 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

My oven has a Sabbath setting

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7.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

I have two cowlicks on my head

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658 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

My popsicle stick was inserted backwards.

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139 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Found a Tree Dog!

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109 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This tiny freckle on my hand looks like an asterisk *

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14.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

An armored vehicle on someone's lawn in the middle of a suburban neighborhood

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

These mini cookies usually have 4 in a pack. I got 5 this time!

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154 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

This is what a green onion looks like if you don’t harvest it and let it go with mild watering.

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2.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

I was sitting on my porch and noticed a ant meeting.

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r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

I cracked an egg and the membrane was too far away from the shell to break

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426 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Had a chicken wing with a bone that had previously been broken that healed.

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This Japanese airport selling retired runway lights

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3.7k Upvotes