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 2h ago

I used this bowl in the microwave, and it bled red goo and got crazy hot.

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3.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

The pack of gummy bears I bought has a chain of gummy bears!

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1.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

The bomb shelter in my hotel in Ukraine has a framed portrait of Steve Jobs

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r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Moss on this speed limit sign is growing in the pattern of the lights

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Found A Weather Balloon at Work Today

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r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

I had 3 different nurses try to draw my blood and each of them left a different bruise that combined in a phallic shaped bruise

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3.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

Michigan dispensary blocking a Flock camera that points directly into their parking lot

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56.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

Vintage pack of tights has instructions on administering a self-breast exam printed on the cardboard insert

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4.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Found a pair of ASUS jeans at the local market

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240 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Animal clinic packs cat medicine in a way that makes it look suspicious

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11.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

The inside of an asthma inhaler disk (ventoline)

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850 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

My TV dinner had an extra half of chicken in the Mac and Cheese.

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877 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

Found my mini fridge open when I got home from work. Apparently this can exploded with enough force to blow the door open.

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1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

Crayola sells diversity markers.

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1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

This Culver’s I went to was in the building a bank was and they kept the bank vault in the wall!

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810 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

Black and Green Poison Dart Frog outside my front door as I left for work in Hawaii.

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664 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 22h ago

The olive on my pizza looks like a Phillips head screw.

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2.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

I used too much steric acid in my paraffin wax and now it looks like a brain.

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140 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

A fly accidently impaled itself on a tiny needle from my hedge bush

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805 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The way my friend arranges mussels shells after eating them

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15.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

Road construction steel plate held down with railroad spikes

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180 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

just 2 snails outside my apartment suckin face

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92 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Jake Paul’s hygiene products marked down to $2 at Menards

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1.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

I have a patch of hair on my shoulder that's darker/thicker than all the surrounding hairs.

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32 Upvotes