text: Manning's profile picture is a sketch done of her since she began living as a woman . Chelsea Manning, the US Army solider who was convicted of leaking thousands of secret diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks, has begun tweeting from behind bars at Leavenworth military prison in Kansas. Manning sent out 15 tweets on Friday afternoon - mostly to thank her supporters, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International and journalist Glenn Greenwald. Within just a few hours @xychelsea racked up more than 16,000 followers. She also gave a shout out to Tom Morello, the frontman of Rage Against the Machine. 'Thank you for the support! I’m a huge fan of RATM and your music,' she tweeted. Morello replied: 'Take care, stay strong.' Manning's lawyer told Politico that she was dictating the tweets over the phone to supporters in 'close contact' with her. She mentioned the difficulty of tweeting from prison in a tweet that said: 'Tweeting from prison reqs a lot of effort and using a voice phone to dictate #90sproblems.' The 27-year-old is serving a 35-year sentence for espionage and computer fraud after being convicted in 2013 for leaking a slew of military documents and thousands of military cables that she had access to as an Arm intelligence analyst. Tweeting out: Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradly, has started a Twitter account from prison in Kansas, where she is serving 35 years for espionage . Manning gave a shout out to Rage Against the Machine fontman Tom Morello, who heaped praise on her in turn . Manning, who was born Bradley but has begun living as a woman since going to prison, maintains a deeply divided place in public opinion - with some regarding him as a whistle-blower an a hero and others regarding her actions as traitorous and damaging to American security. She revealed that she wants to use the Twitter to disseminate about 'meaningful' news about her life and government transparency. 'I’m hoping to stay connected w/ this account as much as poss., but would rather tweet about more meaningful things than not #lessismore,' she tweeted. Chelsea Manning is now living as a woman and is working to transition her gender from male to female. At right, Chelsea is pictures at her trial as she was living as Bradley . Manning is dictating the tweets over the phone to close friends. She does not have direct access to social media from prison . Manning thanked journalist Glenn Greenwald and Amnesty International, among several other supporters .
target: Manning tweeted out thanks to her supporters - including Rage Against the Machine frontman Tom Morello .
  She is dictating the tweets over the phone to friends .