TomBroDude's Death
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Overview
Tom Reynolds, better known by his online handle @TomBroDude, was an American blogger and Weird Twitter personality who passed away at age of 27 in September 2016. Following the news of Reynolds' death, many of his followers on Twitter paid tribute in memoriam by retweeting his memorable quotes en masse and trolling WPVI, an ABC-affiliate local news station based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by sending pictures of a naked man to its account on the microblogging platform.
Background
On September 18th, 2016, Tom's girlfriend used his Twitter account to announce that he had unexpectedly passed away the day before.[1] The cause of death is unknown, though Tom had tweeted about struggling with heroin[4] and being hospitalized shortly before his passing.[5]
Developments
On January 30th, 2014, he tweeted "Like, when I die please just read my best jokes at my funeral and laugh aloud."[2] Twitter users responded by retweeting some of his best jokes in memoriam. A GoFundMe[3] was set up by Jacob Price the same day to help his mother and girlfriend pay for his final expenses, and exceeded its goal of $5,000 by over $3,000 in less than three days.
@6abc Raid
Tom had a tradition of trolling ABC's Philadelphia affiliate, WVPI, whenever they used the hashtag #6abcSnow.[6] He also often tweeted a picture of a naked man,[7] to the point where some Twitter users thought it was him.[8] On September 19th, 2016, a substantial amount of Weird Twitter users spammed WVPI's Twitter account, @6abc, with pictures of the naked man in tribute of Tom.
The event was picked up by Adweek,[9] The Philly Voice,[13] and The Daily Dot.[10] On September 20th, it was discovered by Twitter user @MD_Morrison[12] that the naked man photo was of an Orange County porn star named "Michaelpornman,"[11] which sparked another series of jokes. On September 21st, TomBroDude's passing had become a Twitter moment.[14]
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Twitter – @TomBroDude Passing
[2] Twitter – @TomBroDude 'At My Funeral'
[3] GoFundMe – RIP TomBroDude
[4] Twitter – @TomBroDude 'Heroin addiction'
[5] Twitter – @TomBroDude 'Hospitalized'
[6] Twitter – @TomBroDude '#6abcSnow'
[7] Twitter – @TomBroDude Naked Man
[8] Twitter – @Alyssakeiko
[9] Adweek – Here’s Why WPVI Got Trolled With a Picture of Some Naked Guy
[10] The Daily Dot – TV station gets pranked with butts as memorial for fallen Twitter pal
[11] Adult Talent List – Michaelpornman
[12] Twitter – @daniellasbroke
[13] Philly Voice – Philly Twitter mourns 'aggressively funny' dude with laughter, tears and naked pictures
[14] Twitter Moments – Philly Twitter gives fitting farewell to beloved Tom Bro Dude
Related Entries 13 total
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Top Comments
Pippeli
Sep 21, 2016 at 12:44PM EDT
Get PILLS, against my orders
Sep 21, 2016 at 11:40AM EDT