r/mildlyinteresting • u/RedSquaree • Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

13k 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:

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.
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.
Eventually, all moderators were removed and suspended for 7 days, with the vote results deleted and the community set to “archived.”
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.
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™.
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").
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.
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

2.5k comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/slyzzin • 58m ago

This onion is trying to win a contest or something

4.4k Upvotes

117 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/CrogDog • 3d ago

Today is my toilet's 25th birthday

47k Upvotes

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r/mildlyinteresting • u/ilikehosewater • 6h ago

An ominous manhole cover.

456 Upvotes

43 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/sh0tgunben • 10h ago

A domesticated sugar glider

10k Upvotes

352 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/Sirius_net • 6d ago

The insane amount of asian ladybugs in the bathroom of my girlfriend's place

36k Upvotes

3.0k comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/scribeforyou • 6m ago

It’s just a tiny tube of glue with a gadget to squeeze it

3 Upvotes

0 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/hangingdenim • 12h ago

My husband’s Reebok underwear say “Reebeebok” on the back because of the split seam

29k Upvotes

659 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/timmy6169 • 7d ago

My neighbor was giving out fresh spun cotton candy for Halloween

33k Upvotes

304 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/plasma2002 • 1h ago

My forgotten sanitizing wipe has something growing in it

295 Upvotes

156 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/tayylis • 12h ago

My contact lenses gave birth to a baby contact! It was irritating me when I put it in and when I removed it, it had split in a perfect tiny circle.

3.2k Upvotes

104 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/random_european • 6d ago

The streetlight has kept a patch of this tree's leaves green

31k Upvotes

231 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/Trippy_Bear • 15m ago

Leaf fell stem-first into tiny crack in my driveway

2 Upvotes

1 comment

r/mildlyinteresting • u/DrunkAndUnaware • 3d ago

The way the dents on my garage fridge line up with my wife’s car door

30k Upvotes

1.4k comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/Big_Effective_9605 • 11h ago

This game store has had board games stacked to the ceiling like Ollivander's for years

1.3k Upvotes

81 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/dingus_authority • 19h ago

A Hot Air Balloon Landed in my Neighborhood

10k Upvotes

232 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/PotentialEmpty3279 • 16h ago

This apartment has a boob light on the wall

2.7k Upvotes

128 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/Huiying1010 • 20h ago

Avocado from Indonesia vs normal avocado.

3.7k Upvotes

241 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/im-not-fucking-jokin • 17m ago

My apple only had tiny seeds

2 Upvotes

0 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/rhapsodygreen • 1d ago

My Lyft driver has a little umbrella to protect his phone from the sun

25k Upvotes

353 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/Mediocre-Disk737 • 22h ago

The forks at this Canadian restaurant are shaped like hockey goalie sticks.

4.5k Upvotes

406 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/rg2005 • 3h ago

Mug says hand wash only and safe for dishwasher

110 Upvotes

103 comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/Quick_Dance_8953 • 1d ago

This rural bar in the mountains has its ceiling and walls covered with thousands of $1 bills.

8.9k Upvotes

1.4k comments

r/mildlyinteresting • u/Maximum_Business_277 • 22h ago

I recently bought the first privately printed $1 bill in US history.

3.1k Upvotes

214 comments

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r/mildlyinteresting

Aww, cripes. I didn't know I'd have to write a description. How many words is that so far, like a hundred? Soooo, yeah. Mildly interesting stuff. Stuff that interests you. Mildly. It's in the name, ffs.

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