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 8h ago

The difference between my Teddy I’ve slept with every night for 20 years and his never-been-hugged Twin

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10.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

I took this picture of my pizza that looks like it's a video

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7.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

My pickle jar has a sticker over “Always Chilled Never Heated”

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1.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

The difference in age between these 2x4s that came from the same pallet.

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6.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

Found my family’s 1991 Disneyland tickets. One-day admission was $25.50.

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32.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Someone put a sticker frown on my amazon package

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3.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

These urinals are each in fully private and lockable stalls

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8.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

This squeeze-pouch of soft-serve ice cream I got at a concert last night

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11.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Ice cream sandwiches from Singapore use real bread

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15.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

I ordered a (vegetarian) whopper and they gave me four patties

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3.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

My dog and a cat synchronised their paw placement when napping

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5.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

A picture of my Women of Star Trek t-shirt from 1994.

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905 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

The units on this yellow tape measure are not inches. (Ruler for comparison, the centimeter side is correct)

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1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

I went outside to start my BBQ looked over and there is a bat on the wall.

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Saw this at the mall the other night. Pad lock on both doors with a long chain going over the car

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320 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

My fridge has swallowed up one of my food items

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2.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

I collected every official Lapras Pokémon card ever printed and framed them on my wall

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130 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

I have dermatographia, so I can literally write on my skin.

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296 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Ice in my coffee resembles a coffee bean

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83 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 44m ago

My 2 pack of rice cakes came with 3

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

It’s so hot here the cold water pipe runs 87 degrees. It’s 9pm.

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15.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

Quad corn. 4 corns in one.

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310 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

My local pizza place uses perforated boxes that can be turned into smaller boxes for easy leftover storage in your refrigerator.

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1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Found a docking station in the box of a baby stroller

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200 Upvotes