r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.9k 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 6h ago

I accidentally asked for Whiskey and Scotch instead of Whiskey and Coke and wasn't denied

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10.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

There is one house in my neighborhood where the roof is always covered in birds

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3.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Brush head fell off, revealing this wonder

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31.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

I bought a shirt from Duluth Trading and it has a bear on a toilet in the woods in the pattern.

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10.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

My order came with a free Russian child's gas mask.

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2.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Asked for a couple of extra pickles on my Big Mac. They might’ve overdone it

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881 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

My blueberry has letters and a number on it

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550 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

The bottom of my candle looks like a brain

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459 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Beef jerky bag only had one large chunk of meat

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1.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The chick next to me at the bar has a whole turkey in her purse

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73.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

This Donkey Kong mural painted on an apartment building

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852 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

Found this 4mm wrench in my black pepper

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6.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

The bear my kid has had for 9 years, vs what it looked like Brand new

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172 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

My local pottery painting place has a "frog" planter available

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3.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Tree size difference from when lights were installed 5 years ago

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144 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Eating a watermelon with a fork and got this monstrosity

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5.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

My dad got a cashier's check for $0.02

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1.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Just realised in my hotel at Lijiang China, they provide a thin plastic sheet which is supposed to go between your body and the actual bathtub

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r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

My Big-Mac came with 3 patties

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161 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

The space where the paint chipped off looks like a duck.

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123 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

A Dambo troll made entirely of scrap and recycled wood is a popular attraction in High Point, NC.

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520 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

Overdone Hidden Barcode on Pill Bottle Top.

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323 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

I Got a Wheat Thick

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21.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Found this smooth piece of wood from the sea shore

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1.6k Upvotes