Facebook: The real prisoner’s dilemma
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/21/facebook-in-prison-south-carolina_n_838250.html
There are very few places left that are outside of the grasp of facebook’s social network. One would think that a maximum security prison would be one of those remaining places where you can’t update a status or poke a friend, but in the age of cellphones that is no longer the case. This article chronicles the struggle of guards in South Carolina to keep their inmates away from cell phones and away from social media.
Clearly it is in the best interest of the wardens to keep the prisoners off of cell phones to prevent them from running criminal activity from behind bars, but it is also worth considering the power they hold over social networks, even those edges without malicious intent. In our discussions in class, we always thought of the individual’s choice to expand their social network if they wanted to. Prison presents a completely different type of social network, where another individual controls (or tries to control) when, where and how social networks are formed and maintained. This control over social network behavior may be one of the more punishing aspects of incarceration, even though it is not the most obvious.
I always thought of prisoners trying to smuggle drugs, food or other classic types of contraband to make their time in prison more tolerable. It seems that what they really want to smuggle in is their freedom to social network. The strength of ties to friends, family and other people on facebook are valued highly enough to risk solitary confinement or even additional years for some inmates. This really puts a perspective on the intrinsic value of networking and how much we take connectedness for granted.
Some people argue that taking away cell phones and social networking is violating the rights of inmates. Others say that part of the point of prison is isolation and that being cut off from networks is part of the punishment. Either way, there is definitely some food for thought about the right to control networking, particularly on facebook and other online forms of social media.