Doing time online: Prison TikTok as social reclamation    

Abstract

In recent years, the United States government along with prison authorities have worked to pass laws preventing incarcerated people from accessing cellular technology and using social media behind bars. Yet through the acquisition of contraband cell phones, some incarcerated people have subverted these laws to create a presence on social media, particularly on the popular social media app TikTok. We introduce the term social reclamation to describe the use of social media by imprisoned people to achieve three primary goals: (1) to remain connected to society through engagement with current social and cultural trends, (2) to reclaim self-narratives of everyday life by sharing lived experiences behind bars, and (3) to expose the unseen dehumanizing reality of prison industrial complex. Through the analysis of select prison TikTok videos we situate these acts of social reclamation on Rubin’s continuum of friction-resistance, and we conclude by juxtaposing our findings to state-centered narratives that claim cell phone use in prison poses a threat to public safety.