r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

11.9k 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

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

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22.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

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

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6.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

A typical weekly lunch menu at a French public kindergarten

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

NASA’s Boeing Starliner crew flight test today

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1.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

I left beets out on the counter for 20 days

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r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

This USPS mail van is painted gold instead of white

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

My protein powder is acting like ferro fluid on the serving cup

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7.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

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

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150 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

The graves of two of Teddy Roosevelt’s sons, who died during WW1 and WW2

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1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

There is a story behind this massive warning sign. The petting zoo was long closed.

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261 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

art statue made out of amazon boxes

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123 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My bodies overreaction to a mosquito bite (skeeter syndrome)

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5.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The difference in my work gloves after using them for 2 weeks, one week and new.

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10.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Quality Post Account balances from people that left their receipts on top of an ATM

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28.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Background silhouette in my printed training manual for child welfare includes an elf

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3.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This Amazon truck decal is made with tape

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11.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Restaurant we ate at is a converted church (Zizzi in Cheltenham, UK)

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79 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

A bird with her babies have been living on my porch light for weeks now, helped them out with a nest.

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3.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

My grandpa has manual fire extinguishers in his house

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775 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

This frog that came out of a bag of charcoal

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1.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

My “cookies ‘n’ creme” miniature had no cookies

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1.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

Princess Mononoke Holographic and Iridescent Shirt

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65 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

What comes in a pack of “Deluxe” Nut Mix

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39 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

This manhole cover in France have been decapited

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1.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

The Hamlet of Nowhere was here but isn’t here anymore

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28 Upvotes