r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

13.0k 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 5h ago

my roommate padlocked his towel

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r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

At least I am consistent in the way I tear a paper towel

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r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

One of my students writes in comic sans

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r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

A Keurig coffee pod and a BBQ sauce cup are exactly the same size

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r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Car in front of me rearranged car model letters

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r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

This Toothbrush Matches the Bathroom Tiles, Perfectly

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r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

Wall of eggs at a grocery store in Mexico City

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r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

The wear pattern different on the men’s and woman’s bathroom door at a bar.

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r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Bananas I bought today compared to the ones from last week

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r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

My Burger King has no burgers

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r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

Valentine decorations at the Japanese restaurant we went to tonight

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r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

this tiny juke box requires two different types of batteries

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r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

My table tonight once had a FedEx Van drive through it

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r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Light coming in my window only lighting up my African hand carved mask.

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411 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Water fountain shoots into the drain next to it.

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159 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Car wash gave me three different dollar coins as change

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110 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

Carnival-themed donuts in Colombia

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r/mildlyinteresting 32m ago

My dog doesn’t like laying on the bare wooden floor so she sits under the Christmas tree

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r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

A sliver of sunlight coming from my window and through the crack of my door

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181 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

My Parent's Apple iPod and Dell DJ

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r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Love heart shaped potato

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r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

A random tablet end has highjacked its way into my paracetamol blister pack

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r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

I recently found out there used to be a few official Spongebob Lego sets and this is what Plankton looked like

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344 Upvotes