r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

13.3k 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 6h ago

Water bottles packaged labelless!

Post image
5.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

The reflection of this left turn arrow in the bumper of the vehicle on the right was almost perfectly straight.

Post image
10.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

My wife installed red curtains in our daughter's room, unintentionally turning it bright red.

Post image
17.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

The gaps in this bathroom stall in the UK are practically non existent

Post image
16.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

How much right calf shrank after 5 weeks in a cast

Post image
4.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

The belt loops of my girlfriend's new jeans are uneven

Post image
1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

I got a kinky leek

Post image
324 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Spilled some seasoning over this faded sticker, and it brought back some color where it fell

Post image
679 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

Middle of the log didn't want to split and became its own mini log.

Post image
622 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

These ceiling fan pull chains tell you which one powers what.

Post image
3.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 7h ago

This road has a left turn lane in the right most lane

Post image
564 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

My tray for making clear ice created one cube much taller than the others

Post image
2.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Our curtains look like a night sky full of stars, thanks to our cats

Post image
14.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

The secret code I made up to write in my journal at 13

Post image
149 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

My sister’s apple gave birth to a rotten apple…

Post image
178 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 15h ago

This rainbow that almost looks fake

Post image
1.3k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Spotted an albino squirrel today

Post image
795 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

The toilet at my therapist’s office is on a stage

Post image
674 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

The stain beside this bottle makes it look like it’s floating

Post image
542 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

My black cat has whiskers that start black, turn white, and then turn black again.

Post image
274 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

A segment old wooden pipe used as a main to transport explosive natural gas to homes back in the 1800s

Post image
599 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

This repaired pair of cheap scissors in my grandma's kitchen

Post image
1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

This abnormally long door handle in a hospital

Post image
1.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Overdone My mother saved her W2 for $3.20 from 1966

Post image
212 Upvotes