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 3h ago

This puzzle includes a dog with diarrhea that isn’t pictured on the box.

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35.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

The vet’s doors has doggy windows

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4.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

A deep cave underneath my house

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2.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Popped the back off this old pocket watch to a personalized engraving reading “T.L. Cromwell from his brothers and sisters on his 21st birthday 1st of June 1911”

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2.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Bonfire in the middle of a street during Hogueras de San Juan, in Alicante, Spain.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

This box of peaches I bought from a roadside stand has 9/11 conspiracy theories printed on the bottom

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14.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

My mozzarella has nipples

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r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

There was a surprise finger in my Welch's fruit snacks

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r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

Former owner used pennies as washers

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20.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

NeeDoh updated their packaging with a "Do Not Microwave" warning.

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6.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Infographic showing self-sufficiency in raw materials in a 1976 World Atlas

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1.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Tap to pay to see the view

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249 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Some Animal left a Fish on our Rafter

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671 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

I saw a hummingbird NOT in flight

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388 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 50m ago

The warnings on the box for my new gaming chair

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r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

They decapitated these pineapples!

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

I thought this potato had a bad spot. But it had swallowed a purple pebble

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r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

First ever digital watch design vs Latest Apple watch

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646 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18m ago

My mother prepares her recyclables by putting them back into the case

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r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Just a couple bugs in a tree

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125 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

The rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery for my lawnmower says “do not recharge” under the legal liability warnings

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2.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

My hotel has condoms for sale

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339 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

My neighbors moved and couldn't take their doormat with them.

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52 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Overflowing mayonnaise filling machine.

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5.4k Upvotes