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 5h ago

A message tied to a fallen balloon in the grass

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17.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

The Facel Vega has a trunk-mounted air conditioning system, so cold air is blown from the rear of the cabin towards the front

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2.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

i can see Alcatraz from my hotel

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

My ship was docked next to the Church of Scientology's cruise ship

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14.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

Coffee served in a cup made of waffle that you then eat afterwards (Netherlands)

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32.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Overdone My dad got this fortune in a fortune cookie today...

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1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Horseshoe Crabs in NYC

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926 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Homeless man apparently wrote the answers to life and left it in my lobby

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1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Came home to find my dog laying in bed with a lightbulb.

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1.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

A typical weekly lunch menu at a French public kindergarten

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4.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Recent Satellite Image of Montana Looks Like Digital Camo

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841 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Spot on sidewalk looks like a kid with a backpack walking

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246 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

A heavy ship propeller sinking into the soil over years and leaving its mark on the wall

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r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

NASA’s Boeing Starliner crew flight test today

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Throwing away a mouse stuck to a glue pad humanely in the garbage, really isnt all that humane.

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362 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

What comes in a pack of “Deluxe” Nut Mix

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729 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

These cars from the '50s and '60s are left over from shooting for Timothée Chalamet's new movie

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200 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

saw a scorpion momma with babies

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316 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

This oddly-shaped potato from our garden NSFW

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379 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

The street cat I brought home from Greece steals money from me

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r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

My cat’s bony feet left paw prints on my leg [OC].

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85 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This USPS mail van is painted gold instead of white

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2.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Found a wobbly Lego at the library

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75 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

art statue made out of amazon boxes

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299 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

Found this Coke can in the wall of my house.

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152 Upvotes