50 Times People Spotted Something ‘Mildly Interesting’ And Documented It For The Internet To See

"The mildly interesting feel of the subreddit is maintained probably due to its rule about titles which weeds out all clickbait which is common in other subreddits. On our side, submissions have massively increased and the moderation team has been forced to expand," moderator RedSquaree explained to us how the mod team is very hands-on in maintaining the quality of the content.

"That means we're removing more rule-breaking content than ever before; often the content is OC can be resubmitted which is great. There haven't been any massive changes in how we do things recently, although over the past few years we have used bots to automate a lot of our moderation practices. We haven't changed the rules in years despite some temptations caused by fads. In my honest opinion, it has been for the best. The sub feels pretty much the way it always has."

As for how the subreddit was first founded, RedSquaree told us about how one thread had lead user Doginabathtub to create the community but has been "missing in action for years, and left the mod team years after becoming inactive as a moderator."

RedSquaree mused: "So, I suppose Woggietree named the sub he did not found! A few years ago we were featured in a h3h3 Productions video (linked in our sidebar) which was a great compliment and is perhaps a good marker of success."

Moderator RedSquaree confirmed to Bored Panda that what sets their online group apart from others on Reddit is that they allow only original photos to be posted, nothing else. "Our content is generated by our community and given that titles cannot be clickbait, there is a unique feeling of people seeing something mildly interesting, whipping their phone out of their pocket, capturing, and posting. So the community feels very interactive (the content creators are all here) and laid back. This is probably why our comments sections are almost always nice and relaxed and, themselves, mildly interesting." And we wouldn't have it any other way!

The main draw of the r/mildlyinteresting subreddit is, of course, the awesome photos and descriptions that their multimillion membership base posts daily. However, beyond that, the subreddit is incredibly focused in explaining to everyone what it aims to do.

“Mildly interesting stuff. Stuff that interests you. Mildly. It's in the name,” the moderators explain what the community is all about. And while each and every one of us will have different interests, what unites all of us is our (mild) passion for something and our desire to share the (again, mildly) awesome stuff with everyone else. Sharing is caring, after all.

Founded back in February 2012, the subreddit celebrated its 9th birthday just last week. So if you’re planning on joining them, be sure to wish them a happy birthday when you tell them, ‘Hi!’

They’ve got plenty of rules, though, so be sure to brush up on them before you go posting things on the subreddit. Like all subreddits, r/mildlyinteresting needs to keep the community in check and to balance between being friendly and maintaining high standards that keep the content quality high and the entirety of Reddit happy.

Some of the rules include avoiding posting memes, as well as reposting and cross-community posting. That way, the photos are kept fresh instead of being a constantly repeating cycle of mildly interesting stuff. Remember, folks, high standards lead to everyone being happier.

Another rule (and one that we can totally get behind) is that each and every post on the r/mildlyinteresting community has to be an original photograph! That means that everyone puts in a lot of work in their posts—it’s actually going out into the field and snapping a pic instead of screenshotting something fun that you saw on the net.

Heavy photo-editing is also something that’s frowned upon. So keep in mind that the ‘Mildly Interesting’ mods want laser-like focus from their members. The photos have to be original and barely retouched while the titles have to be concise descriptions that don’t have any unnecessary “jokes, backstory, or other fluff.” The backstory belongs in follow-up comments where you can obviously expand as much or as little as you want to.

Oh, and for those of you who are big emoji and emoticon fans—keep in mind that they won’t win you any favors. So only add those to the title of your post if it’s absolutely necessary. When in doubt, it’s best to opt for basic editorial standards and you won’t go wrong. In other words, go for something to-the-point and simple; something that you'd personally love to see and read.

You really can’t overstate the impact that the ‘Mildly Interesting’ community has had on Reddit. They’ve created a massive network on the site that contains dozens of related niche subreddits and we’re absolutely astounded by how much they’ve branched out. They’re creating new ‘Mildly [insert word]’ communities all the time, so keep an eye out if you’ve got something in mind that you’re particularly interested in seeing.

They’ve also inspired other subreddits to pop up, such as the r/OddlySatisfying online group that Bored Panda has written about right here. It’s great to see all of these communities cooperating and helping each other out instead of fighting for attention. It’s something that we could all learn a bit from.