Currently serving a 35-year sentence in military prison, Chelsea Manning has joined Twitter under the handle @xychelsea. Her first tweet was posted just after noon today, saying simply: "This is my new twitter account =P" Manning is dictating the tweets over a landline phone from prison, but said she's hoping to use the system to reply to followers as well as posting tweets, allowing for a meaningful two-way dialogue with the outside world.

The news was first reported by The Guardian, where Manning has been contributing editorials since her sentence began. In 2013, Manning was court-martialed under the Espionage Act after sharing classified documents with Wikileaks, including the now-infamous "Collateral Murder" video. After her conviction, she's fought an uphill battle for hormone replacement therapy, and in February, government doctors approved her request as medically necessary. She will be eligible for parole in seven years.

Verge Video: The future of communication