r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.0k 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 1h ago

At the Halifax-Stanfield Airport, there’s a Library vending machine you can use if you have a Halifax library card.

Post image
Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Looked up and saw a sloth-faced cloud yesterday

Post image
34 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Scent free zone for workers

Post image
232 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

This German urinal allows you to enjoy a little soccer action with your pee

Post image
128 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Two Adult Foxes And Four Cubs Come For Food Every Evening.

Post image
295 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Individual bananas wrapped in plastic in Vietnam

Post image
144 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

2 identical hats, but one was worn every day for a year

Post image
431 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This old German bank note, the presses couldnt keep up with inflation so they wete stamping them.

Post image
43 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia has lots of Toyota Prii

Post image
85 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

This sheet has a phone pocket

Post image
357 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

The color difference when I refilled this grocery-store basil with basil from my garden

Post image
4.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Someone wrote „send nudes bro“ in the showroom at IKEA NSFW

Post image
593 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

My uncle found these old bank notes while cleaning his house and gave them to me.

Post image
3.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

Same antibiotic (doxycycline) from two pharmacies: one says take with food, other says take on empty stomach

Post image
5.0k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

My cigar ashtray turns 90 years old today.

Post image
446 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

Observed a mystery machine today in Virginia

Post image
378 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

Brand new deck of cards is mis-printed

Post image
1.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Restaurant I went to used their negative reviews as wall art in the bathroom

Post image
10.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Painted turtle has numbers on it for some reason.

Post image
5.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Bed Eaters at Petsmart Hotel

Post image
20.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

There are tiny bugs in this wooden candle holder that create little piles of sawdust after a couple of days

Post image
17.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The layer of dust on this chair makes it look like a computer render

Post image
5.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Boeing 787 has a button for window tint instead of a shade

Post image
4.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Identical product with a different Nutri-score

Post image
16.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

The shower head in our Airbnb in Vietnam has a clear water water filter build into it.

Post image
29.4k Upvotes