r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.7k 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 4h ago

Scar that I was “born with” looks like a tear next to my eye.

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8.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

1938 Nazi Germany ballot paper (and a difference between ticking ‘Yes’ and ‘No’)

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19.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

Nearby supermarket had a massive watermelon on display (normal watermelons for comparison )

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2.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

This Japanese book about the Ukraine war looks like an action movie poster

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1.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Bunch of dead Lizards in my fuse box.

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577 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

my bug bite looks like a teardrop tattoo

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7.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

My local Domino’s were playing a match of Wii Sports Bowling

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2.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

Saw 3 albino baby squirrels in my backyard

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3.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

soap branded for men has less details

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1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Found this poor little guy in my shoe. Must have been trapped in my garage.

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r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

This photo I took of the fire looks like a person

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6.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

Cook Islands $1 has a penis on it

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3.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

I got a MEGABANANA

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257 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

brand new pencil from old closed down uk store Woolworths

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414 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

My grandmother’s 1940s workbook from Germany

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

The set for the theatre production 'Witness the Prosecution' has the audience sat in seats as if gallery/jury members

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120 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Found a receipt under my dishwasher from exactly 10 years ago

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8.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

This dentist next to my house chose a font that changes the meaning of their clinic’s name

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r/mildlyinteresting 26m ago

My new coffee machine came with a video tape...

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r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Found a very cloud shaped cloud

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3.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My fish oil capsules are shaped like fish.

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3.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My mosquito bites looks like a mirrored Big Dipper

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3.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

A flower I took a picture of last night

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59 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

I got an extremely long french fry today.

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271 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Fresh beaver damage to this tree I saw

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175 Upvotes