It all started with a Mountain Dew can.
Jason Flood, a senior studying video production, began posting an empty can of Mountain Dew for the astounding price of $60 on the popular Facebook group titled “Free & For Sale.”
Flood said it all began as a joke but continued the gag when he realized it elicited a reaction out of other members of the group.
“It’s a way to make an audience not like me, which I’ve always wanted,” said Flood, who is a member of Blue Pencil Comedy. “The best thing is to get reactions out of people. Getting people to respond fuels me. ... It’s more to just see who can’t grasp satire at all.”
From posting polls and vlogs to commenting on a majority of posts, Flood trolls Free & For Sale without hindrance. Some comments go ignored but others elicit that response Flood thrives on.
Typically, when group members complain about a particular user, the group administrator, or admin, steps in to settle the conflict.
But with Free & For Sale, the admin is less than interested in doing anything.
“I’m happy being a bad admin,” said Taylor Reinhart, a senior studying English. “I’m perfectly fine letting people duke it out themselves. I very much don’t care what happens.”
Reinhart, a fellow member of Blue Pencil Comedy, said he only became involved in Free & For Sale recently, having let it go totally laissez-faire before. However, the early premiere of the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones in late March was one event that sparked his activity.
Blue Pencil was bumped from performing before the premiere in a way Reinhart said was disrespectful on the part of the HBO staff. Due to his frustration, Reinhart posted in the page saying no one could sell any memorabilia they received from the event or else he would face lawsuits and the user would be banned from the page. Yet, it was all a hoax.
Comedians are used to getting bumped, but one of the troupe’s members came all the way from Cincinnati to perform and it was a chance for the comedy group to perform in a different environment, Reinhart said.
While he does have some active involvement in Free & For Sale, Reinhart rarely, if ever, goes on the two dozen other Facebook groups he is also in charge of.
About two years ago, Reinhart said he was simply scrolling around when he realized these groups needed an admin, and it was as simple as a click of a button that put him in charge.
Reinhart said he ignores all the complaints about Flood and gives him free range. But it’s not just Flood who trolls the posts. Flood and Reinhart’s friends and comedy cohorts also actively post in the page.
Samantha Forlini, a senior in the Bachelor of Specialized Studies program, posted a link to a survey for her communication studies class on April 7, and it only took 25 minutes until the comments started flowing. Reinhart is often tagged in threads in order to make a ruling about a post. His comment on Forlini’s post sparked about 20 more comments.
“Surveys fall under Article XII, Section IV as protected free speech,” he wrote. “You as a consumer also have the right to harass Ms. Forlini until she deletes the post.”
Though Forlini responded once, she said the comments didn’t affect her but were just childish and pathetic. She added she is more concerned the frequent commenters don’t realize the possible impact of their actions.
“It’s like when a child does bad things to get your attention,” she said. “They should be more cautious about what they say to others because it could affect someone’s day.”
Besides commenting on others’ posts, Reinhart said he does look to make sure users aren’t being cheated, sometimes stopping outrageous deals from being made, such as selling a poster for $100.
“I make an ambiguous threat or overgeneralized statements,” he said. “Those are my weapons of choice.”
@buzzlightmeryl
mg986611@ohiou.edu
Fast Fact:
Taylor Reinhart is the administrator of about two dozen Facebook Ohio groups. Some include Alpha Omicron Pi, ACRN, Class Of 2016, Biological Sciences, Jobs & Internships, and Journalism.
