r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.0k 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

I found an enclosed, gated, personal reserved parking spot in this parking garage.

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5.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

The Emperor of Japan drove past me in Richmond.

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r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

I recently bought hats and they sent them to me in a plastic pillow

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r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

City administration of my town opened the door next to the place people like to have a drink

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r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

My puzzle says that Toronto is the capital of Canada

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r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

The sidewalk I was riding my bike on was littered with hundreds of Pokémon cards.

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538 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

My board results displays marks in words uniquely

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2.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

My silly straw went through the dishwasher and is no longer silly.

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10.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Some birds moved in and ate all the wasps from a wasp nest that I've been too afraid to deal with

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r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My wisdom tooth is growing in perfectly straight to replace a molar I had pulled months ago

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325 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

My hen, Gina, laid a perfectly round egg, yesterday.

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2.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This patch of white hair we somehow just found on my head today at only 20 years old.

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32.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

TV Remote has a keyboard on the back

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361 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

A guy in the movie theatre is eating a pack of cold hotdogs

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4.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

My fitted bedsheet has a pocket

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2.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Inside of an air mattress

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Coffee pot shows different levels for water in vs coffee out

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10.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

I can hold ten eggs in my small hand

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134 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 50m ago

Natural Bridge State Park, you actually drive over this on highway 11!

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r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

These ants trying to stay out of the sun

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159 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

This $10 bill has been on fire, before. (It smells like burnt popcorn)

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164 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This sign for temporary fencing to protect birds

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3.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Inside of a lighthouse

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131 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

What to do with extra screws per my tv mount instructions

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r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

The bubbles in this soap dispenser are extremely uniform.

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49 Upvotes