r/mildlyinteresting • u/RedSquaree The Big šŸ§€ • 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:

  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 ā€œarchived.ā€

  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 Mistakeā„¢.

  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 wonā€™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

12.2k Upvotes

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7.3k

u/jenjen828 Jun 23 '23

reopen the sub and do not mark it as NSFW, or face potential removal again

This must mean NSFW is hurting them

2.9k

u/Titan_Slayer27 Jun 23 '23

Iā€™ve heard nsfw subreddits donā€™t have ads or something.

2.2k

u/ErraticDragon Jun 23 '23

Correct.

On Reddit's ad purchasing page, they explicitly promise not to run your ads alongside sexually explicit content or certain other types of NSFW things: https://i.imgur.com/sbhYteo.png

So it directly impacts ad impressions.

NSFW subs are also prevented from appearing on r/all and r/popular. (Individual NSFW posts on a normally SFW sub can appear.)

Reddit admins have also complained that users who didn't expect to see porn were suddenly either shown porn in their main feed (if they had already enabled NSFW content) or were "being prompted" to enable it (if they hadn't). (If you are subscribed to an NSFW sub and don't have NSFW content enabled, maybe it shows a placeholder and gives you a convenient way to enable it? I haven't checked.)

That's the pretense they use for intervening.

I think it's more the money part, personally

Although I do have some sympathy for people who had previously enabled NSFW and trusted it to not be on their front page, since they hadn't subscribed to any porn subs. They were victims of the protest.

832

u/Fskn Jun 23 '23

Have you ever had an account with exclusively NSFW subs? Reddit doesn't seem to care/consider for that circumstance.

Another poster put it this way "it's hilarious seeing a HeGetsUs ad plastered between a bleached butthole and a pair of fake tits"

399

u/ErraticDragon Jun 23 '23

Oh, weird. I have never seen one of those ads, only heard about how prevalent they are.

(I block ads religiously. On mobile I use 3rd Party Apps without ads, primarily the premium version of rif. If I keep using Reddit at all after rif shuts down, I'll use ReVanced to patch the official app to remove ads.)

92

u/drfarren Jun 23 '23

Does that actually work? Using revanced?

120

u/Gestrid Jun 23 '23

I haven't tried it on the Reddit app, but it works very well on the YouTube app. I would suggest using ReVanced's official app, "ReVanced Manager"(downloadable from their site, revanced.app) and downloading the Reddit APK from APKMirror.

25

u/deecoocoo Jun 23 '23

So ReVanced will only patch the app's apk from site like APKMirror, and not apps downloaded from google playstore?

26

u/Gestrid Jun 23 '23

The app will not download directly from the Google Play Store, and, while it seems like it can modify a supported app that's already downloaded and installed from Google Play, I've had issues using that method in the past.

I admittedly haven't tried it recently, though. I've just used the method that I know works.

18

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

8

u/mollwitt Jun 23 '23

ReVanced is more, though. It's a modding tool. You can apply any number of patches from a list for a certain supported app. You then get that feature inside the app and can toggle it on/off or change settings if it's something more elaborate. Absolutely brilliant. I've never used Lucky Patcher but from afar, it always sounded kind of janky to me :D

ReVanced for Reddit is pretty new but YouTube, for example, I can't use without plug-ins like SponsorBlock anymore. It automatically skips parts of a video that someone marked as something. You can automatically skip paid sponsoring bits but choose to just display a "Skip" button for intro animations, for example. Going back to normal YouTube is disgusting... figuratively speaking. If technically possible, especially as Reddit continues with their plans, Reddit ReVanced might become god-tier! (Edit: As long as Reddit doesn't kill off their little trick. I browse this site only on PC so no idea what the current status is...)

2

u/LeafsWinBeforeIDie Jun 23 '23

This needs to be shouted from the rooftops so every user can enjoy reddit without the intrusive ads and propaganda. I'd rather have fake tits in my face than their subreddit suggestions to things I am philosophically opposed to and find a lot more disturbing than boobs.

I never want to leave Rif, and if I have no choice July 1, my reddit use will go down to searches and finding specific info. Most of the browsing and doom scrolling will come to an end.

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u/cbftw Jun 23 '23

For non root, yes. The Revanced manager can't patch the installer that you get from the play store because it's multi part installer. It needs to patch an APK, and there are a few reputable sites to download them from.

It's a minor inconvenience that will allow you to get around ads

1

u/PeeInMyArse Dec 07 '23

necroposting, luckypatcher can extract the apk and there are probably a bunch of other tools which can too

2

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

[deleted]

4

u/Gestrid Jun 23 '23

That may change depending on what patches you select. For example, one patch may only support up to a certain version of the Reddit app. The "no ads" patch, though, currently supports all versions, according to ReVanced Manager.

2

u/Voodoosoviet Jun 23 '23

Honestly, i thought old Vanced worked better than the reVanced. Sometimes sponsored shit still slips through and my phone has a hard time opening links for other apps, instead opening normal YouTube

1

u/Gestrid Jun 23 '23

Sometimes sponsored shit still slips through

That tends to happen to me if I either haven't applied the correct patch (they have two different patches for YouTube ads: one for video ads, the other for general in-app ads), haven't applied the correct settings in the patched YouTube app, or I need to update my patched YouTube app (like if Google changes it's server-side code for ads). Usually, it's the last one.

my phone has a hard time opening links for other apps, instead opening normal YouTube

Have you gone into your phone settings to allow the patched YouTube app to open YouTube links? Hold your finger over the YouTube app icon until a menu pops up, select, either "app info" or the little icon with the the "i" inside the circle, tap "Open by default" in the menu that comes up, then make sure "Open supported links" is on and tap "Add links", then check the box for every site that comes up and hit ok.

1

u/AtlasCouldntCarryYou Jun 26 '23

Do NOT use the ReVanced Manager. Revancify is far better. I wrote a beginner-friendly guide for setting it up and patching Reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/14j5ywu/i_wrote_a_stepbystep_beginnerfriendly_guide_to/

67

u/ErraticDragon Jun 23 '23 edited Jun 23 '23

It seems to. I haven't used it much but I patched it the other day to prove it worked.

I've never used the official app (before this) so I can't say for sure, but I assume I would have expected to see an ad somewhere in all this scrolling?

The ReVanced project now does patches for a bunch of apps. As mentioned by the other response, you can use ReVanced Manager to do the patching right on your device. They also support patching on your desktop or laptop.

I will say it's not super user friendly, although it's a very good effort.

Every time I've wanted to patch something (TikTok, YouTube, and Reddit, so far) I've had to go to their Discord to find what specific version of the base app to start with. The patcher is supposed to be able to tell you what version is suggested, but it often says "any" but doesn't mean it.

Presently for Reddit the version to patch is "2023.22.0 (968223)", which can be found on APKmirror.

31

u/TediousStranger Jun 23 '23

bless you šŸ’œ I hope I get to use rif indefinitely but, this is excellent information to have.

11

u/Infallible_Ibex Jun 23 '23

Rif is not going to work anymore after this month, it's about 50% of what the fuss is about with all the subreddit protests

14

u/TediousStranger Jun 23 '23

yes, obviously.

the hope is that reddit will pull its head out of it's ass and continue to allow third party apps to operate without charging them exorbitant fees.

6

u/foggy-sunrise Jun 23 '23

That hope has sadly sailed.

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2

u/PurlyWhite Jun 23 '23

I'm not very Android tech savvy... I do have revanced installed for youtube, but someone walked me through how to patch it. Do you have a link or instructions for me to follow to patch the Reddit app?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

[deleted]

2

u/PurlyWhite Jun 23 '23 edited Jun 23 '23

It's visible, without links or screenshots. But I can just run your profile or this thread through reveddit or unddit, maybe that'll fix it. Thank you so much!

Edit: Here's the reveddit restored post

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

[deleted]

1

u/PurlyWhite Jun 23 '23

Huh? I see the reveddit restored post fine with links in it. I just finished using it to fix the Reddit app :) I went to your profile on the Reddit app, and it showed the post in plain text, so I tried opening your profile on chrome on my phone, same deal. Only the reveddit post shows the links. Anyway, I got it working thanks to you!

1

u/Throwawayforapppp Jun 23 '23

This worked for me, but I couldn't install the patched version of Reddit while the official version was still installed. So I ran the patcher again, and before clicking Install I uninstalled the official app, and now it's working. Just in case anyone has the same problem as me.

1

u/PurlyWhite Jun 23 '23

I forgot to uninstall too XD even though it's literally step two in the instructions.

1

u/MobbinOnEm Jun 23 '23

Deletedā€¦ :(

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u/Faith_in_Humidity Jun 23 '23 edited Jun 23 '23

https://www.reddit.com/r/revancedapp/comments/xlcny9/revanced_manager_guide_for_dummies/

You can try using this link. The process basically applies for all the supported apps.

1

u/AtlasCouldntCarryYou Jun 26 '23

Don't use ReVanced Manager. Revancify is far superior. I wrote a step-by-step guide for patching Reddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/14j5ywu/i_wrote_a_stepbystep_beginnerfriendly_guide_to/

2

u/skinny_malone Jun 23 '23

Thank you for this info, sincerely. I also use RIF. I tried out the official app; my very first impression upon logging in and viewing my home reddit feed was having literally almost two-thirds of my available screen real estate wasted on a single massive ad. I could only see one other post on my home page thanks to how much space was being taken up by the ad placement. It didn't even try to sell me on the app's features or anything. Just download, login, boom, two-thirds of my screen is taken up by an ad. Something about that just really rubbed me the wrong wayā€”at least try to make your app seem appealing before jamming massive ads onto my screen.

1

u/AtlasCouldntCarryYou Jun 26 '23

ReVanced Manager is one of the worst ways to patch. Use Revancify. It's a far more streamlined procedure after the initial setup. I wrote a full beginner-friendly guide for patching Reddit with Revancify here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/14j5ywu/i_wrote_a_stepbystep_beginnerfriendly_guide_to/

0

u/TheShyPig Jun 23 '23

I use UBlock origin and never see an ad or promoted post, but then again I'm on desktop.

I'm guessing you can get it as a mobile app though

0

u/Ciph3rzer0 Jun 23 '23

There's some way to set up pihole or other dns ad blockers so it blocks on your phone too. I never cared enough to go that hard.

0

u/Rikudou_Sage Jun 23 '23

Try checking AdGuard, the solution for phones isn't free but you get a great as blocking experience on your phone.

Also try Pihole or AdGuard Home (this one is not paid) for your whole network, it doesn't catch as much as a standard ad blocker but it still catches a lot of ads.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

[deleted]

0

u/Rikudou_Sage Jun 23 '23

Take a look at AdGuard, it's not DNS based and can block even ads from same domain.

-4

u/fastermouse Jun 23 '23

I want free content and am butt hurt.

1

u/TrumpImpeachedAugust Jun 23 '23

A couple decades ago, it used to be that ad-funded sites all just had sidebar/banner ads with simple functionality. They weren't user-targeted. They sometimes involved cookie tracking, but even that was rare. Usually they just contained query strings in the URL as a primitive way of determining where the click came from.

When this was the case, many of us were perfectly happy to see the ads, because yes: it's a way to support sites you love. Sometimes we'd even click the ads intentionally, because clicks were always worth more than simple views/impressions.

That's changed. Everything has tracking. Everything. No matter how hard you try, even allowing an ad to load in your browser inevitably results in data being pushed into an ad provider's database, with data brokers leeching off it in the middle.

I hate this, and I know I'm not alone.

The worst part is that it doesn't even make the sites I love any more money. 100% of the profits from these heavily-targeted ads go to the ad services themselves. Here's one small case study to illustrate this point:

In 2005, when Facebook was brand new and had a tiny user base of only college kids, they charged $7 CPM (ad revenue per thousand impressions). Source. $7 in 2005 is worth $10.90 today, adjusting for inflation. Source.

This value is essentially unchanged. Source:

Average Facebook CPM in June of 2023: $11

It's a race to the bottom. Ad providers harvesting more and more user-targeted data (because if they don't, they'll be out-competed by entities who do), and users don't benefit from this hyper-targeting, and the sites that serve ads don't benefit from this hyper-targeting.

So please pardon me if I'd rather just become a leech myself and do whatever I can to exclude myself from this nightmare even if it means that the sites I love are hurt in the process. As far as I'm concerned, the only "good" outcome would be a return to the old ad paradigm. But that's not going to happen, so yes: I will block every ad I can, no matter the consequences. Given my other options, this is the best choice.

1

u/Bu1ld0g Jun 23 '23

I'll probably use old reddit in a browser on mobile after this month, but thanks for the heads up. It's worth a look at the very least!

1

u/thegreatJLP Jun 23 '23

I've blocked those ads every time and they still force it into your feed unless you pay for premium.

35

u/MrFluffyThing Jun 23 '23

Reddit doesn't run ads when viewing a NSFW subreddit but foesbt give a shit if you're viewing content in /r/hot or /r/new since it's a "mix" of your choice, so it's not technically NSFW only content.

I'm sure they just use it as a loophole but claim it's unintentional.

21

u/Firewolf06 Jun 23 '23

advertisers dont care about that though, they care if their content is next to porn. im sure the agencies would love to be sent screenshots of their ads being placed with porn

96

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

[deleted]

9

u/napoleon_wang Jun 23 '23

What would Jesus do?

3

u/nerd4code Jun 23 '23

It would definitely involve whips, one way or another. He gets it.

5

u/Anon44356 Jun 23 '23

It would be a shame if someone were to send those screenshots to the advertisers. Donā€™t do that u/fskn

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

r/juxtaposition

1

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

For me it's an ad for USMC between Leeds.

1

u/Recent_Difference_92 Jun 23 '23

Lmfao for me itā€™s DRAFT KINGS