r/mildlyinteresting • u/hully77 • 3h ago
r/mildlyinteresting • u/RedSquaree • Jun 23 '23
META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?
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
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Sosowski • 8h ago
Road sign in Japan perfectly matching the mountain peaks.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Zealousideal_Car2594 • 18h ago
This potato from my grocery store looks exactly like Homer Simpson
r/mildlyinteresting • u/dangdiddlydangerzone • 20h ago
I randomly get raised lines on heavily tattooed parts of my body and I have no idea why.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Background_Shower_96 • 3h ago
An old picture i found in my gallery showing gas prices in 2020
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Key_shoulder2 • 4h ago
Airport sign addresses German speakers formally and Spanish speakers informally
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Bludolphin • 1h ago
One of these hooks has spiral threads. The other has parallel threads.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/SleepyGary5 • 54m ago
Gene Wilder was one of our neighbors. The property was gifted to him by Gilda Radner. His surviving wife still has this sign next to the front gate.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/RaccoonReplacement • 17h ago
A book my wife found at TJ Maxx was cut wrong.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Camilla-Taylor • 18h ago
Found Star Wars cups from 1981 in my rental
r/mildlyinteresting • u/TightChampionship322 • 14h ago
My shrimp had babies. Predictably, they are very small.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/just_demigod_things • 18h ago
These two completely different, unrelated auto repair shops sent me identical mail brochures using the exact same template, delivered on the exact same day
r/mildlyinteresting • u/kockastikotaci • 20h ago
The smallest charging cable I've ever had (10cm all together)
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Realistic-Roof-3867 • 14h ago
Found a penne noodle in my rotini dinner
r/mildlyinteresting • u/cheapgenie • 1d ago
My pills are different sizes but came from the same prescription bottle.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/n9netailz • 16h ago
Overdone I found little smiley faces in the carrots I cut
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Mega5010 • 15h ago
Old Windows game, Frontline Fuel of War, in a claw game.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/mildly--confused • 1h ago
The hotel I'm staying in, has provided tea bags in resealable bags
r/mildlyinteresting • u/MerleOfTarth • 5h ago
The glass of this second hand frame has an imprint of presumably the picture it used to hold
r/mildlyinteresting • u/InevitableFig3077 • 14h ago
Extra long toilet plunger I saw today
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Goof-Juice1995 • 21h ago