r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.8k 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

The worker doing my random drug test had a marijuana leaf tattoo on her hand

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55.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

This mexican restaurant used to be a KFC and they just painted a sombrero, mustache, and poncho over the Col. Sanders images.

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r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

My new suitcase uses a permanent label and a bright zipper on its hidden compartment

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3.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

I have no fingernails

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Someone bought, used, then returned a suit with a wedding toast inside the pocket

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1.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Smash glass hammer replaced with push pin on my bus

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r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

My recycling bags came with no perforations for a large section.

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

Stumbled across this rock perfectly sitting on an 8ft stump, way out in the middle of nowhere

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15.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

The way my watermelon swirls

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425 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

This license plate that says 8 ur mom

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435 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Overdone Barcode on my beer is pretty cool

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r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

This cup of coffee I got in a train has their entire menu printed on it.

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Overdone Came home to a DoorDash delivery (that I didn’t order) of one Taco Bell sauce packet

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6.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Pennies soaked in salt & vinegar overnight, one is totally dissolving

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16.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My friend kind of looks like my foster cat

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15.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

My gummy bear came with a tail

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157 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 48m ago

I accidentally squeezed a kewpie mayo cursive L on my English muffin

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r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

At the Musée Chagall in Nice, France, a kid wearing a t-shirt of the same blue as the painting he's admiring.

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94 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

In my city they put an Audi next to an Aldi

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711 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

A ridiculous number of tomato plants grew wild where our chicken run used to be.

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r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Double Mega Wheat

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160 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

My air purifier filter after 6 months

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517 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

The sparkles in my nail polish look like a thumbs up

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155 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The way my rats eat peas

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3.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

You must be 18 to drink this 0.0% beer

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112 Upvotes