The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam

Thursday, January 31, 2013 - 3B

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, January 31, 2013 - 3B

Reddit isn't just the front-page
content of an image board of a link
aggregator-it's got so many
40 * different parts and has become a
platform and tool for a community.
- Reddit General Manager Erik Martin

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Page 1 B times.
Other Reddit-based initia-
matter what you like to do, tives anchored offline include
s a community out there full location-specific, real-life
e-minded people that will meetups and a Guinness World
ou their experiences or new Record-setting Secret Santa gift
or feedback on your exist- exchange, which included more
uff," said Kevin Davis, mod- than 58,000 participants in 126
of /r/AnnArbor - the Ann countries in 2012.
subreddit. Its mass appeal Reddit has been open-source
qual parts due to its diverse since 2008, and many develop-
nt and its users. ments have come from contri-
ese run the gamut of butions from the community.
sts. Several are devoted Third-party sites like metared-
t entirely to image macros dit and stattit aggregate data
ceAnimals being the most about traffic and content.
ar, with upwards of L9-mil- "We've worked really hard
ubscribers) and amusing this past year on (improving)
s ("funny" and "pics" both open-source and developer
over 3-million subscrib- resources," said Martin. "They'll
while others promote dis- enable the community and third-
in and discovery of current party developers and students
s ("worldnews," "science," doing cool research projects to
ics" and "technology" have make some really cool stuff on
2.4-million subscribers). and with Reddit."
srmer group is what people "Offline meetups have played
ssociate Reddit with, while a big part, especially at the local
Zedditors know that there's level," Martin said about the
to be discovered under the influence of the Reddit commu-
of Facebook feed pictures nity and the sense of community
assive-aggressive notes. at the subreddit level. "In the
aying from the multi- big cities, people are meeting up
n subscriber subreddits, offline ... almost once a day."
will find a wealth of sub- The transcendence of inter-
:s such as those that show- action from the virtual to the
high-quality photography, physical adds another layer of
every possible trading solidity to Reddit's community.
same, TV show, book series, There's something for every-
game and discussion/ one on Reddit, and it's for
based boards. "Shittyask- this reason that the site is so
e" is a satirical take on immensely popular. It's not
cience," one of many dis- entirely without its drawbacks
in-centric' boards where - Reddit's 20-some-odd person
interested in everything team sometimes struggles to
history ("AskHistorians") keep up with the size and vari-
irogramming ("Python," ability of the site, and not all sub-
programming") share reddits are the most enjoyable
nation. Most cities have places on earth. But the team is
well as universities, sports aware of what they need to do
(/r/MichiganWolverines), for Reddit in the future and are
, celebrities, languages and taking steps to make it happen.
es. What sets the site apart "Improvements we've made
others, though, is its user- in the infrastructure will pay off
in some interesting ways in the
ddit isn't just the front- next year ... (and) talking with
ontent or an image board or the community as openly as we
aggregator, it's got so many can about how to make money, I
ent parts and has become a think will be interesting," Mar-
rm and tool for a communi- tin said. "This site doesn't run
well as a community itself," itself and we don't have huge
Martin, general manager of costs, but we need to somehow
t, said in an interview with make money and we want to do
tichigan Daily. that the right way, and having
that whole conversation out in
Virtual to physical public with our community is
the only way to do it ... I think
e 260-million comments people will appreciate that."
00-million unique visitors Following Digg's v4 remodel-
2 attest to that. As do mas- ing where it became heavily lit-
community-driven initia- tered with advertising, Reddit
uch as the Random Acts of experienced a surge in its user-
and Assistance subreddits, base. The massive influx perma-

nently shaped Reddit, eventually about them."
leading to the site it is today.

A one-sided conversation
One of the real and tangible
drawbacks for discussion is Red-
dit's somewhat liberally-biased
and demographically-skewed
community.
."There's what they call the
'Hivemind,' which is (when)
once a popular opinion has been
established or upvoted enough,
people don't seem to think
critically and independently
anymore; they' just say 'yeah,
that guy, what he said,' " Davis
explained.
This can lead to some pretty
one-sided conversations - espe-
cially when it comes to touchy
subjects such as politics and
religion. Engineering fresh-
man Damian Rotarov has also
noticed the groupthink mental-
ity on the site.
"Because there are so many
people, it can really open your
eyes to some of the problems in
the world," Rotarov said. "It can
kind of corrupt your viewpoints,
though. I've noticed that I've
started leaning towards what
'they' believe on Reddit, and I
don't know if it's because it's
what I believe or because I spend
so much time there."
A loose moderating system
is in place, with each subred-
dit having a number of modera-
tors overlooking its content.
Irrelevant, inflammatory and
explicitly promotional content
is removed, and many subreddits
have restrictions on what can
and cannot be posted. Each sub-
reddit's individual rules contrib-
ute to the flavor of each user's
experience.
Davis said beyond promoting
the subreddit in real life, he likes
to take a hands-off approach to
the content of the discussions
to focus on Internet trolls and
spam links. The subreddit tends
to focus around orienting new-
comers, recommending locales,
local news and organizing meet-
ups. He also remarked that his
job in IT outside of beinga mod-
erator has been made easier by
using Reddit.
"I've had several threads
where I've either posted some-
thing to a community asking for
advice and gotten a lot of helpful
comment and replies and there
are a lot of great new ideas,"
.Davis said. "In my last position,
I was the entire IT division, so
it was really helpful to see what
other professionals were install-
ing and what their opinion was

The pub of the 21st century
For students in the United
States, where our vote is only one
among hundreds of millions, the
miniature power trip resulting
from pushing a struggling post
upwards or shoving it down-
wards into the depths of the
Internet is a gift in and of itself.
Obviously an efficient and - if
used responsibly - educational
procrastinating tool, Reddit can
be used as an escape from that
awful philosophy lecture taken
for distribution requirements.
LSA Sophomore Julia Ches-
brough has found Reddit useful
as an artist's resource.
"I have used it to see what
type of art people are working
on and ... for inspiration. You
can get different perspectives on
things," Chesbrough said. "You
can post some of your artwork
and geta lot of feedback."
It can also be used to supple-
ment knowledge in a given field.
Hobbyists of all kinds flock to
Reddit with tips and tricks, and
the newest technologies are
always being linked to relevant
boards. Looking for an app to
improve productivity? A wealth
of posts comparing different
sites and software is a search
away. Need some tips on work-
ing out? Reddit's fitness commu-
nity is as active as any other part
of the site.
"It's away to kill time.... There
are so many broad subjects; so
many different things that you
can get lost in different topics,"
Rotarov said.
There are subredoits dedi-
cated to making informed pur-
chasing decisions on household
appliances, video games and
more. New music? Dozens of
active boards link to the fresh-
est tracks from known and
unknown artists. Debating
whether or not to see a movie?
Barring some seriously hive-
mind-based conversation, you're
likely to find useful comments,
and reviews.
In an age where so much hap-
pens behind a screen - texting
instead of calling, e-mail instead
of snail mail - and where there's
so much pressure to find out
what you want to do with your
life, finding and fleshing out
your own hobbies and interests
can sometimes take a backseat to
studying and a social life. Reddit
provides a network of like-mind-
ed people a few clicks away.
In Davis's words, "It's the pub
of the 21st century."

hen people hear
the word "fat," the
thoughts that follow
aren't usually positive. Those
who have struggled with their
weight might
regress to
days of ridi-
cule on the
playground,
or perhaps
just yester-
day, whenA
someone CARLY
called them KEYES
"fat," even if
it was only
them looking in the mirror.
In today's society, the pres-
sure to stay thin, trim, ripped .
and toned is overwhelming.
So, inevitably, fat becomes the
enemy in the battle to beat the
bulge. Thankfully, there are
tons of "low-fat" options, right?
Wrong. If an item is labeled
"low-fat," most of the time that
just means it's packed with
sugar and carbohydrates (which
end up being stored as fat in the
long run).
I can label a one-pound bag
of sugar "zero-percent fat,"
and that's the truth. I always,
always, always read the nutri-
tion labels on low-fat products
- the statistics and the ingre-
dients - and you should, too.
You'll be shocked by what you
discover.
Fat is one of the most misun-
derstood nutritional concepts
because of its universal negative
connotation. But there is such
a thing as healthy fat, and it's
critical to our diet. Consuming
the right kind of fat and in the
right amount will not only curb
our hunger and keep us satiated
longer, but it can prevent the
onset of life-threatening health
conditions.
So, what exactly is healthy
fat? Sounds like an oxymoron, I
know. Let's start by identifying
unhealthy fat. Its overconsump-
tion has largely contributed to
the current obesity crisis in the
United States and the leading
cause of death: cardiovascular
disease.
Saturated fat is found in ani-
mal products, such as cheese,
red meat, poultry, butter and
whole-milk products, and too
much of it increases bad choles-
terol levels and the risk of heart
disease and Type-II Diabetes.
The American Heart Associa-
tion (AHA) recommends limit-
ing saturated fat to no more
than 7 percent of your daily
caloric intake.
Trans fat occurs naturally
in some animal products, but
is mostly created during food
processing through partial
hydrogenation of saturated fats.
It's a common ingredient in
margarine, shortening, snack
foods and commercial baked
goods, and it's equally detri-
mental to our health. The AHA
suggests limiting trans fat to

no more than 1percent of your
total daily calories.
Now, on to the heakhy fats!
Polyunsaturated and mono-
unsaturated fat provide us with
Omega-3, Omega-6 and Omega-
9. I know they sound like a band
of robot brothers straight out
of "Transformers," but they're
actually fatty acids that are
essential to our health.
Omega-3 and Omega-6 are
polyunsaturated fats that play
roles in building healthy cells
and maintaining brain and
nerve function, among other
important bodily functions. We
cannot produce them on our
own, so the only source is food.
Fatty fish like salmon, mack-
erel and tuna are packed with
Omega-3, so I've started mak-
ing salmon burgers instead of
using beef and adding grilled
tuna to my salads. To get my
Omega-6 fix, instead of lather-
ing my frying pan with butter,
I use plant-based oils like olive
or canola.
Omega-9 is a monoun-
saturated fat that the body can
produce, but is also beneficial
to obtain in food. It helps
eliminate plaque buildup in the
arteries reducing the chance of
heart attack or stroke. To get
my fill of Omega-9, I spread avo-
cado on my sandwiches instead
of highly processed products
like mayonnaise and mustard.
A nutritious
diet needs a
healthy dose
of fat.
Even as a college student
constantly on the go, it's easy
to make better choices. I carry
a Ziplock bag full of lightly
salted almonds - a source of
all three fatty acids - instead
of spending a few bucks on a
bag of chips; it's a healthy habit
for my body and my wallet.
Want an even easier way
to ramp up the good fat? Pop
some pills - seriously. I start
my day with two fish oil tab-
lets. For the vegetarians out
there, flaxseed oil is a great
option.
When consumed in the prop-
er amount (the AHA suggests
keeping fat intake between
25 percent and 35 percent of
your daily calories), healthy
fats help us remain satiated,
enhance bodily functions and
prevent the onset of multiple
diseases.
Inother words, fat can be
your friend - and not your foe
- if you let it.
Keyes is eating a lot of
avocado. To join her, e-mail
cekmusic@umich.edu.