Teenager’s tweets from confiscated phone via smart fridge go viral
Twitter praises teen as an 'icon'
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Your support makes all the difference.As a teenager, there are few things more frustrating than getting your phone confiscated.
Suddenly your pathway to communicating with the world is blocked and you have no way to entertain yourself aside from, say, reading a book.
For one 15-year-old, the thought of no screen time was too much to bear. So she decided to take action in the most resourceful of ways: to tweet using her smart fridge.
On Thursday, the Ariana Grande fan, who goes by the name “Dorothy” on Twitter, used her family’s smart refrigerator to send a message to her followers via voice control.
“I do not know if this is going to tweet I am talking to my fridge what the heck my Mom confiscated all of my electronics again.”
The tweet soon went viral, garnering 67,200 likes and earning Dorothy more than 28,000 followers.
Speaking to The Guardian, the teen revealed her mother confiscated her phone two weeks ago because she got distracted while she was cooking and started a fire in her kitchen.
“She took all my tech so I’d pay more attention to my surroundings,” Dorothy told the publication via her cousin’s iPad because her mother has not yet returned her devices to her.
“I felt mortified!” the teen continued. “I was worried because I’ve been bored all summer and Twitter passes the time for me.”
Prior to the tweet from the fridge, Dorothy used her Wii U and her Nintendo DS to post messages on the social media platform.
But the teenager said her mother soon confiscated both of these too and at one point threatened to shut down her account.
“My mom took my phone and my Nintendo DS so I have no choice but to use my Wii… thank u all for the support and love [sic],” she wrote from her Wii U.
Dorothy has been lauded on Twitter for her creative thinking, with many users urging her mother to return her tech devices to her.
The hashtag “#FreeDorothy” has since been trending on the platform, with everyone from LG Electronics (the company that manufactured the fridge in question) to Twitter themselves posting messages of support.
“An icon,” wrote the official Twitter account.
On Tuesday, Dorothy tweeted again from her fridge, thanking users for their support.
“I don’t know how I got this much support thank you so much to my supporters and @twitter this is crazy I would be lost without you and given up,” she wrote.
“I’m trying to get my things back fast so I can thank you properly!”
When asked by The Guardian when her tech ban would be lifted, Dorothy did not respond. “I may be late to reply," she told the publication, "as it is difficult to find something to use Twitter".
The Independent has contacted Dorothy for further comment.
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