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/GreatValueDrPhil • 7h ago
School Bus Advertisement for Body Armor
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Successful-Grass-135 • 10h ago
My yogurts from the same brand have two different spellings of the brand name.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Lil-King-Squid • 2h ago
the top is addressed to my sister, the bottom is addressed to me (male). same company, same credit card.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/IconicThings • 6h ago
Sign my aunt and uncle put up for my grandma in her bathroom with dementia during the pandemic
r/mildlyinteresting • u/cjabrady • 14h ago
There’s a toilet in a bar in Windsor & Eton train station reserved for Queen Victoria
r/mildlyinteresting • u/ALMANACC0 • 11h ago
My girlfriend gifted me some "butthole cat" shaped cookies
r/mildlyinteresting • u/hikekorea • 9h ago
Overdone Took my students to 6th grade camp and found an impossibly specific speed limit.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/shredbmc • 9h ago
I had these hot sauces in my fridge for three days. The spicy sauce bubbled the lid while the mild sauce didn't.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/RoseyPosey30 • 1d ago
My great uncle’s “blood chit” from fighting in WWII.
r/mildlyinteresting • u/profound__madman • 1d ago
Went to Walmart and saw this car/boat parked on the side
r/mildlyinteresting • u/IChurnToBurn • 4h ago
This public art in Switzerland is sculptures of dog poop bags
r/mildlyinteresting • u/squirrelbefriender • 1d ago
This 3” stick was impaled into my cat’s palate
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Loose-Offer-2680 • 48m ago
Human sized hammer just chilling in the woods
r/mildlyinteresting • u/Ok_Refrigerator2644 • 1h ago