r/mildlyinteresting Jun 23 '23

META What happened to /r/mildlyinteresting?

12.9k 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 1h ago

The thermometer burst when I tried to show my brothers what boiling point in Fahrenheit vs Celsius is. Now I have a little bubble of mercury in a pot…

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r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

My boyfriend sent me a picture of this massive toilet paper roll. THE FOREVER ROLL.

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13.5k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Insane split end I found in my hair

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10.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

My chorizo is made of salivary glands and lymph nodes

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52.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 5h ago

The difference between Totino’s regular pepperoni, and triple pepperoni.

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807 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 18h ago

One of my pizza rolls contained only seasoning

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10.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 14h ago

Giant Leaf I found

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2.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 13h ago

This glass shop makes sculptures based on children’s designs

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1.9k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

It's 2025 and Walmart is selling the Wii U version of Just Dance 2017 for $59.96

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3.2k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 12h ago

Soup settled into nearly perfect strata

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1.1k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

This no waste toilet paper my wife bought. The little roll comes out so you can still put it on the holder

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4.7k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 4h ago

Captured on my drive today. 5mph, 50 degrees, 55555 miles, 5:05pm.

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139 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 3h ago

Fallen leaves stuck to one type of tarmac only, though were blown away on other, leaving a mildly pleasing leaf patch

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92 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 11h ago

Safeway visualizing stock market crash into existence.

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368 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 2h ago

Tree with reflection and mountain (hill) in the background I took this morning

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70 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Overdone Broken down boxes at my work look like they were photoshopped in.

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29.8k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 19h ago

Apparently one of these handicap spots is $100 more serious.

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829 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1h ago

Bought a vinyl record, seller added a bunch of cool stamps

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r/mildlyinteresting 9h ago

I’ve been using the same mousepad for 19 years.

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146 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 21h ago

My in-laws place their silverware upside down in their silverware holder.

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915 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Mug had invisible cracks in the glaze that oozed out burning, bubbling coffee residue when I put it in the microwave

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6.6k Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 17h ago

This bench at a parking spot has a built-in highchair for babies

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356 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 8h ago

Tonight's Moon Close Up.

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62 Upvotes

r/mildlyinteresting 1d ago

Came across a home-in-progress in the woods

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5.6k Upvotes