Editor’s Note: Happy April Fools! We hope you enjoyed our joke articles that went up yesterday. If you didn’t get a chance to see them all, check out The Snitch for full coverage.
By C1 Staff
DIALUP, Ohio — Prisons in Ohio will soon be implementing a new social networking site exclusively for inmates.
Mugbook, a correctional take on the popular Facebook, is launching in hopes of giving inmates their own place to post photos, talk about their latest contraband creations, and let their families know about their conditions with status updates.
“Facebook gives inmates too much leniency, but we can’t get them off of it,” said CO Alton Cookies. “So this was the next best step. At least this way they can’t look up our family members!”
The site will be accessible through prison-provided tablets, which can also be used to place orders with the prison canteen, do legal research, correspond with legal representatives and answer disciplinary reports.
In addition, prison officials will be able to send messages to all or selected segments of the prison population.
Family members with code protected access will be able to interact with their incarcerated loved ones and post comments on their ‘cellblock.’ Inmates can then decide to respond back or ‘shank’ the comment – Mugbook’s creative take on deletion.
Facilities using Mugbook will also have the opportunity to sell ad space and boost their own funding. Current ads show updates to the commissary and legal representatives who bid on ideal placement. Officials are hoping to expand to clothing retailers like Old Navy and Gap.
“They’ve all got cell phones now,” Cookies said. “We might as well get something out of it! We’re also hoping that more time spent messaging and posting on their phones means less time we have to get into a conflict.”
