Monica Lewinsky joined Twitter on Monday.
The former White House intern of blue dress fame kicked off her tweets with the simple message "#HereWeGo." Within the hour, her account was verified.
Lewinsky's bio describes her as a "social activist. public speaker. contributor to vanity fair. knitter of things without sleeves."
#HereWeGo— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) October 20, 2014
Vanity Fair was among the first to welcome Lewinsky to the Twittersphere, emphasizing that the account did in fact belong to the famous former Clinton mistress.
Please join us in welcoming Monica Lewinsky to Twitter. Seriously! RT @MonicaLewinsky: #HereWeGo— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) October 20, 2014
The Twitter account was launched shortly before Lewinsky spoke at the Forbes' Under 30 Summit on Monday morning. The appearance was her first public speech in 13 years.
According to Lewinsky, she was full of nervous excitement ahead of her re-entry into public life.
excited (and nervous) to speak to #Under30Summit— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) October 20, 2014
The speech delved into the reputation shredding power of the internet. Lewinsky spoke candidly about her experiences as her affair with Clinton came to light, becoming emotional at times. Describing herself as "patient zero," Lewinsky said she was "the first person to have their reputation destroyed by the internet."
"I was patient 0. The first person to have their reputation destroyed worldwide by the internet" #Under30Summit pic.twitter.com/iSL6EQ49ZP— Kegan Schouwenburg (@Kegan3D) October 20, 2014
Her speech also touched on the issue of cyber-bullying, saying that the
“That tragedy is one of the principal reasons I am standing up here today,” said Lewinsky. “While it touched us both, my mother was unusually upset by the story, and I wondered why. Eventually it dawned on me: she was back in 1998, back to a time when I was periodically suicidal; when she might very easily have lost me; when I, too, might have been humiliated to death.”
"Online we've got a compassion deficit, an empathy crisis,"Monica Lewinsky— Stephanie Farr (@FarFarrAway) October 20, 2014
Following the speech, Lewinsky received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Monica Lewinsky gets a standing ovation from the crowd. She deserved it. pic.twitter.com/O5HCdgC2q6— Stephanie Farr (@FarFarrAway) October 20, 2014