This Online Group Is Dedicated To ‘Mildly Interesting’ Stuff, And Here Are Their 50 Best Posts (New Pics)
InterviewI’ll be completely upfront with you Pandas—one of my favorite parts about living on Planet Earth and being a human being (instead of, for example, a chill banana tree or a rat who can cook French cuisine) is the vast amount of new, creative, and interesting things I get to learn about each and every day. Life’s full of magic, even if it’s not as flashy and obvious as in the Harry Potter books and movies. And one of the cozy nooks on the internet that shows us just how neat the world can be is the ‘Mildly Interesting’ subreddit.
Rapidly closing in on the 19-million-member mark like a marathon runner in sight of the finish line, r/MildlyInteresting is a completely community-driven online group where people post photos of the things that interest them. Mildly, of course. And despite the name of the group, plenty of these photos are actually vastly and deeply interesting.
Redditor RedSquaree, who has been moderating submissions for r/mildlyinteresting for almost a decade now, went into detail with Bored Panda about how the type of content posted changes with the seasons and how much the subreddit has influenced people in real life. You'll find what they have to say below, so be sure to read on, dear Pandas.
While you’re checking out some of r/mildlyinteresting’s newest photos and upvoting the ones that made you smile, I’ll just quickly remind you that we’ve got some more of their amazing pics in Bored Panda’s earlier articles about the community here, here, and here. Happy scrolling!
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I Like To Make Little Drawings Of People That I See
This Crack In The Pavement Filled With A Stained Glass Cat Portrait
Mosaic, I think. Not stained glass. A ceramic mosaic would be a lot more durable and make more sense. It looks nice though!
These Chairs Made From Old Fire Hoses, In Front Of A Fire Station
"Yes, the seasons affect the type of content we get," moderator RedSquaree told me when I enquired about this.
"This leads to content which is extremely common, particularly during the winter. Take frost on cars, for example. We get this kind of photo daily during winter months, and often we mark with an 'Overdone' flair because the people who hang about /r/mildlyinteresting will see these time and time again (whereas more casual readers probably still enjoy seeing them). Another common one is the pattern of ice or frost on the wheel, seen here," the mod gave Bored Panda a couple of examples of how the particular season, in this case, winter, affects what redditors are more likely to post.
Of course, holidays like Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving also influence what people tend to focus on. "We see posts about eggs, gifts, people receiving the same card from multiple people... and I'd bet, in the latter example, at least one person has lied about this and purchased two cards of the same type and posted a photo just for karma! Stranger things have happened," RedSquaree said.
My Rhododendron Looks Like It's Trying To Run Off
Many Vegetables In The U.k. Have The Name Of The Farmer Who Grew Them On The Packaging
Everyone should do this. It gives credit to the people who deserve it.
Saw This Logo For A Pet Grooming Service On My Drive Home
The moderator shared that one thing that they find interesting is that some people actually think about the subreddit when they spot something interesting and go to take out their phones to take a photo. That just goes to show how much influence the 'Mildly Interesting' community has on the collective psyche.
"Being an original content-only subreddit—and quite a niche one at that—causes those chain of events which I find fascinating. If our (not-so, these days) wee subreddit changes someone's behavior in real life—to find something nice where others might let it pass them by without a second thought—that's a great thing. Maybe the sub does inspire some people to appreciate the smaller things in life."
My Blinds Reflection Looks Like Lunar Phases On My Wall
I Ordered Some Sample Colors For New Blinds, And They Sent Me Actual Tiny Little Blinds
We Use Hulk Hands To Move Cacti At My Work
According to the moderator, if we want to keep our sense of curiosity burning bright as we grow older, we ought to expose ourselves "to more novelty and ambiguity" in our day-to-day lives. Seeing or experiencing something fresh and unexpected brings you out of your routine and provides you with a different perspective in life. Hopefully, one that inspires you to dig deeper and learn something new.
"Much of our content is novel and/or ambiguous. Go about your day tomorrow and think, 'If I were to submit a photograph to /r/mildlyinteresting, what would it be?' Be on the lookout for things that are just novel and ambiguous enough to arouse only mild interest. Snap."
Coffee Stain That Looks Like Earth
OMG Its coffee arttttt. Surely coffee artists exist, right?!
I Found A Pidgeon With One Feather Sticking Out Of It's Head
A Vibrant And Clear Spectrum Of Colors Refracting Through My Apparently Prismatic Window Onto My Arm
For our last article about the ‘Mildly Interesting’ community’s enrapturing photos about life from different perspectives, I had a chat with redditor Cowbeller1, one of the group’s moderators, helping maintain the standards and the quality of the content. Luck, according to the moderator, is an important part of getting attention online.
My Girlfriend Bought Some Particular Measuring Spoons
There Is A Free “Period Pack” At My School For Girls Who Are Unprepared For Their Periods
I think every school should have this, especially for girls who don't know or are shy.
This Shopping Cart Has A Magnifying Glass Attached To It
Rossmann is a German drug store chain, so this cart is designed for old people needing health stuff. But other stores have these too, but not that big... 😂
The moderator divulged that we can’t always predict what posts will become very popular on the subreddit. “A lot of it has to do with luck. Maybe you come across something interesting in your day-to-day life and remember to take a picture, maybe you're just lucky enough that something is interesting to the community. No real rhyme or reason aside from that," the moderator said that it’s not an exact science.
Which, in a way, is actually inspirational and chill: that means that you can focus on sharing pictures of what you love and what you find interesting instead of vying for karma on Reddit.
This LEGO Set Has Loose Change In The Couch
These details nowadays ...! My mom had one of the first Lego sets (she was born in 1959) there were only red and white bricks, later very primitive windows were added to her Legos.
Found Band-Aids For Different Skin Tones At Target
Calf In The Checkout Line
The subreddit’s moderators value stability and original content above all else. “We will just continue doing the same thing. We've found that being boringly consistent is the best way to remain fair to the community. There haven't been any major changes in a while," moderator Cowbeller1 told Bored Panda earlier.
My City Has Public Defibrillation Stations And The Sign For It Looks Like A Video Game Health Bar
Septic Truck I Got Stuck Behind The Other Day
The Apartment That I Just Moved Into, Has A Picture Of A Pig Jumping Off A Dock
My Phone Took This Photo When It Fell On My Face
Got Vaccinated And Just Realized They Gave My Fox An Eyepatch
I Have A One Third Of A Dollar Bill From February 17th, 1776, Making It A Couple Months Older Than The USA
My Great Grandfather’s Oscar Nomination From 1944
These Two UK Phone Booths Have Been Repurposed
Most of the red phone boxes in the UK have already been repurposed, from everything to mini library's to restaurants. The remaining one are available to purchase and are half price if you take them away.
Dobby’s Fan-Made Grave In The Precise Location Of The Film!
The Air Vents On A Subway In Stockholm Have A Hidden Pacman Easter Egg
This Is Me Wearing My Great Grandmothers Traditional Finnish Dress From 1936
Very well protected and looked after. This is a wonderful heirloom.
My Son And I Have Matching Freckles In The Same Spot
Found This Aarowhead While Digging A Hole In My Backyard
The Note I Found In This Second Hand Book
I Found The Elusive Skin Colour Crayon Box At Michael's Today
I Ordered A 119 Year-Old Book Online And Quite A Few Pages Are Uncut- Meaning No One Ever Read It
Been there! Love it, you feel so special reading such an old book for the first time
There's A Cute Little Excavator Graphic On The Window Of This Excavator
The Tiles Around Our Apartment Complex Is Made Up Like The Enemies In Space Invaders
My Son Was Born With A Black Spot Of Hair In His Blonde Hair. It Grows In Black, And There Is No Birth Mark Or Discoloration Under It
This Hair That Got Caught In A Zipper
There Is A Live Crayfish Defending The Rice Aisle In My Local Asian Market
The Sun On My Window Made A Rainbow That’s Split In Half By My Chair Leg
This Random Swing In The Middle Of A Field
Got A Deep Space Telescope For My 38th Birthday. Me For Size!
The Font Size On My Contact Packaging Increased With My Prescription
Hmm it's a negative prescription meaning that the large the absolute number, the easier it is to read for a short sighted person
3D Printed My Skull From A Ct Scan Of My Sinuses (Hence It's Got No Top, No Data). Makes For The Perfect Headphone Holder
Our Electrician Left All Of The Screws In A Vertical Position In Our New Kitchen
The Sand In Tahoe Is Magnetic And Stuck To My Phone
Clearly that poor iphone has been vaccinated against it's will and has now been made MAGNETIC by the TOXINS. I wouldn't be surprised if her next post was about how her phone was unexpectedly diagnosed with autism /s
Load More Replies...The sand contains iron ore, the same thing happens un Upper Michigan.
Load More Replies...Your phone is the magnet, the sand is full of tiny iron particles.
The dreaded spinning "loading" ring has made it to another apple phone
There's iron in most sand. Loved taking magnets to the beach long, long ago.
Why would the Tahoe beaches have magnetic or iron-filled sand? The sand on the beaches seems to be broken-up granite, all of the surrounding mountains are made of the same pale gray granite rock! Where would iron come from?
Granite is often made up of a ton of different quartzes, ores, and minerals (hence its speckled look) so the granite in those mountains might contain iron ore in them.
Load More Replies...This is why electronics generally shouldn't be taken to the beach. Phones that have good ratings for dust and water resistance are fine, but items like notebooks should not be on the beach.
Reminds me of those bald guy toys where you drag the metal shavings to make him have hair.
Just means there are iron filings in it. We had sand like that where I used to live
no, it's stuck to the magnetic parts of the phone.
Load More Replies...Bought Bathroom Scales And My Weight Is Exactly The Same As On The Box
Shadow Keeping The Snow Alive
One Of The Eggs I Bought Was All Wrinkly
My Cola Exploaded Inside The Freezer
BP always has cool stuff to share.... thanks for rummaging around the net to find stuff for us.
You mean Reddit has good stuff to share. Bored Panda rips it off for clickbait to sell advertising. They're hardly rummaging around the net.
Load More Replies...BP always has cool stuff to share.... thanks for rummaging around the net to find stuff for us.
You mean Reddit has good stuff to share. Bored Panda rips it off for clickbait to sell advertising. They're hardly rummaging around the net.
Load More Replies...