Facebook page safety

Administrators of Free & For Sale and Only Girls LU share how they monitor pages

Online yard sale websites have become popular for buyers and sellers alike in the past few years, especially Facebook sale pages such as Only Girls LU and Free & For Sale.

Both sites, created by Liberty University students, continue to grow in number. Only Girls LU currently has more than 6,400 members, while Free & For Sale has approximately 5,400 members.

Both pages were designed to run like online yard sale websites such as Craigslist in order to make selling unwanted items easier for Liberty faculty and students.

While senior Tyler Lucas was not the original administrator of Free & For Sale, he said he now helps run it alongside of Garrett Shue.

Only Girls LU was started on impulse when now-senior Brittany James and a friend of hers came up with the idea in class during her freshman year in 2012.

According to Lucas, these Facebook pages differ from other sites like Craigslist because they actually give you some context as to who you are selling to.

“Without the page, people would have to (use) websites such as Craigslist which doesn’t put a face to a buyer or a seller, which can be sketchy to some people,” Lucas said. “Our page makes it possible for people to know who the individual is interacting with.”

In order to be on the page, people must be in the Liberty network, associated with Liberty either through work or school.

According to James, Only Girls LU was designed to run like a yard sale page, but she wanted it to be more mature and professional in the sales.

Liberty students and faculty can use these pages to buy and sell items such as books, clothes, furniture, CDs and DVDs. Some people even use the pages to find apartments to live in, which is how James found the apartment she currently lives.

While these pages can be useful and fun for faculty and students, some people tend to abuse the system.

As the pages continue to grow, so does the need to keep a closer eye on the items that are being sold and the people who try to join the closed groups.

According to James, the biggest problem she has with Only Girls LU is when girls try to sell things from Mary Kay and Jamberry.

“I’ve had a lot of complaints and issues regarding them, and it resulted with banning all personal business from the page,” James said.

While selling Mary Kay, Jamberry and similar brands are banned from the page, homemade items and Etsy projects are allowed.

Lucas said the biggest problem he tends to see on Free & For Sale is people saying inappropriate or rude things to other buyers and sellers on the page.

“It doesn’t happen too much, but every so often we will have someone who is having a bad day or thinks they’re the funniest person on Earth, and they will cuss someone out or tell someone that their post is dumb and would never sell,” Lucas said. “If it goes too far then I block the person, but if not then I will just delete the comments and move on.”

Both Lucas and James monitor their pages to make sure they are running as they should be.

“I monitor every person that is on the page and keep it to only LU students and employees,” James said. “They are the only ones allowed on the page, so meeting up with those selling is a bit safer since it’s only for LU girls.”

Lucas said he checks in on Free & For Sale four to five times a day to look for posts that should not be there. While they do not rely on users to report content that should not be there, Lucas said people have gone “above and beyond” helping he and Shue out with monitoring the page.

“Our page would not be possible without the support of the many members who enjoy using the page,” Lucas said. “I am always very thankful when people are willing to help me manage the page so that it can be made better. Believe it or not, people don’t like it when our rules are broken.”

According to Lucas, in order for people to get the best use out of Free & For Sale, it is important to follow the rules that are listed on the page.

“Each rule helps to keep the page flowing, gives each person equal opportunity for their post to be seen, and doesn’t allow for people to be taken advantage of,” Lucas said. “It is a simple system that for the most part works. It makes our job as administrators a lot easier.”

Lucas encourages students to meet in well-lit and highly populated areas such as the Jerry Falwell Library or DeMossHall to ensure safety.

BUNNER is a news reporter.