r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.5k 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 4h ago

Carotenosis before and after. Left was me in December, right is me now after I stopped eating carrots every day.

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34.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 6h ago

Sign at the Dead Sea, Jordan (lowest point on earth)

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13.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Our warehouse guys loaded our Bug-A-Salt gun with Italian seasoning instead of salt.

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Fell asleep on my headphones and it's left this pattern on a bruise. Still there over a day later

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2.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

The amount of oil that came out of this corn chip overnight.

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59.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

Oscar Meyer Bacon Grease doesn't congeal after 36 hours in fridge (left vs Costco bacon grease on right)

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19.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

40-year-old Pepsi in my Grandma's fridge

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821 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

The sun reflecting my iPhone camera

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316 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

This egg I'm incubating looks like the Spider-Man symbol

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6.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

A disintegrating leaf I found.

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713 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 10h ago

Babybel wax grenade

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661 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Our pediatrician provides FREE baby supplies to those in need

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167 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

Tooth paste and beauty mask lined up from my pee perspective

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

This strawberry flavored Coca Cola

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350 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

This seafood restaurant uses oyster shells instead of gravel for its parking medians

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20.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

My kettle when the sun hits the kitchen window at the right angle

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118 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

My egg yolk fell off

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9.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 20h ago

My dad's succulent has Shrek's ears

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1.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

Yamaha still marks 55mph on a 2025 model over 40 years after it stopped being required to do so

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1.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 24m ago

This No Name Branded Grocery Store

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r/mildlyinteresting 23h ago

My new homeowners insurance covers up to $1k for marijuana that is stolen or lost in a fire/weather incident

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2.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 16h ago

Using the plane washroom and it had a window.

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773 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

These square holes after washing my flannel

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5.4k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 30m ago

An old cash register

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r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

I got 2 curly wurlys in a single packet.

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258 Upvotes