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 8h ago

A bald cardinal shows up to my house daily

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10.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

My ham inflated like a balloon while in the refrigerator

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8.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

I caught 100+ fruit flies in a day with apple cider vinegar trap

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7.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

All of my light blue non-transparent clothespins broke and splintered into pieces today after years of service, while all other colours work fine

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6.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

A twin-jet pressure washer on a long pole being used to clean a roof

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754 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Tree shadows in a park next to my home are pixelated

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612 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

A stove placed right next to a toilet in a bathroom

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1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Shrink wrapped car

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939 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 38m ago

The diagonally top-sliced hotdog buns I bought

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r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

My cat caught a tiny snake (the snake was unharmed and released safely)

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588 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 46m ago

Mr roommate brought home a giant novelty check from her work.

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r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Hot Dog rolls were cut the wrong way

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348 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Found this tiny hole in a wall in Venice that's apparently become the local disposal spot for used cigarettes

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650 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Lab tested ice that chills faster

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193 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22m ago

My once in a lifetime Capri Sun pull

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Car flipped over in Starbucks drive-thru

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56.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

This swing seat I saw at a school

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6.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The heirloom tomato I grew was so big that it only took one slice to cover a slice of bread.

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30.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Gift shop in norway sells canned air

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118 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

dead and decapitated left snake on doorstep (dont have an outdoor cat)

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82 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Hundreds of these “Pictionary AI” board games sitting in the $2 bins at Staples

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7.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

There's a giant chair in our shop

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83 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Bug bite made a capital "R"

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55 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Creepy Marionette my Grandma owns Spoiler

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196 Upvotes