Who is Angie Varona?
Angie Varona
ABC News
According to some news editorials, Angie Varona is the most Googled teen on the planet. Yes who is she, and what has she done to deserve such fame?
Angie Varona is a young lass from Florida, who made the mistake of uploading some risqué photographs of herself wearing bikinis, to Photobucket.
There was no nudity, just some bare flesh and certainly nothing worse than young girls might take of each other during a sleepover, for a giggle.
She had planned to send them to her then boyfriend.
However, before she could, someone hacked her Photobucket account and spread her piccies around the web.
There are now 656,700 results for those photos if you check Google Images, which seems to agree with Miss Varona's statement to the Press that many, many copycats have been posting photos claiming to be her.
Angie Varona's life has been ruined.
The kids at school teased her relentlessly, called her names. She changed schools twice to get away from the bullies, before finally settling on home schooling.
He parents, Maria and Juan, hired a lawyer to try to stop the flood of pictures that kept appearing under their daughter's name, but to no avail. The photos were legal, because the girls in them were covered despite being in provocative poses.
The FBI were likewise unable to help, because the photos were not illegal.
Angie Varona
Such is the internet popularity of this young girl, who at the time of the writing this has just turned 18, that numerous people have assumed her identity, with blogs (written in poor English so that says it all really), Facebook pages, Twitters accounts and Youtube channels all claiming to be Angie Varona.
There is even an angievarona dot com, a site which should by rights belong to Miss Varona and no-one else.
This is all people jumping on the bandwagon and spreading false stories about how she has won a multi-million dollar contract with a major advertising brand of ladies lingerie, and other such rubbish.
Angie Varona has a very sensible head on her shoulders and is hoping to study to become either a lawyer or a veterinarian.
Maria ans Juan Varona, Angie's parents
Internet Safety for Kids
Angie Varona could be your daughter, or my daughter, and she deserves our protection.
The internet is full of idiots who enjoy seeing other people squirm, or they simply believe everything they read.
Angie Varona was in tears when interviewed by ABC News reports.Her life has been shattered. She doesn't even have a Facebook page like every other young girl, because hers would be flooded with the threats she has already received, with people posting what they would like to do to her, which of course does not say a lot for their mentality.
Someone has a Facebook page claiming to be her, and it has 41,000 likes.
More than ever before, we must keep a closer eye on what our kids and tweens are doing online.
Maria and Juan Varona were horrified to learn that their then 14 year old daughter had uploaded those pics in the first place.
Kids do these things given half the chance because they do not see the consequence of their actions.
Many youngsters are not aware that their Facebook accountisn't private, never mind anywhere else on the web.
Please teach your children not to upload photos of themselves, far less their names, or any other personal detail.
Just show them what happened to Angie Varona.
The ABCNews Interview with Angie Varona
Comments
Emoji on April 07, 2019:
Don't be mean ,even though someone catfished me with her pics ..... Y'all need to stop being so mean she is so pretty I feel her
seems odd to me on September 13, 2013:
Since there are many copy cats now, why not just move and change your name? She doesn't look that unique to me. Who would be the wiser?
Nadir Kibriya on August 16, 2012:
Angie Varona knew what she was doing! She loves the attention she is receiving. Why would she even post provocative semi-nude photos of herself on the internet posing as a sexual symbol at the age of 14? If her photos were for her boyfriend as she so alleged, then why didn't she text them to him direct? She wanted people to see her then it backfired! It is no one fault but her own! She has no one to blame but herself! Angie is a young freak and deep within her cranium she knows this to be true. Angie you should have listened to your parents! So live with your decision and die with it! You did it willingly and no one made you! Now you are labeled a freak and young porn star in the making!
adam on January 08, 2012:
i heard a lot of this case....
chantelle on November 16, 2011:
i think that it's sad of what she went threw and I'm glad that she drop out of school and went to home schooled i hope that she still hav best friends and family members who still luv her and want to b with her no matter what happen to her and I'm glad that she broke up with her boyfriend cause @ a time like this u can"t b in a relationship plus girl if u r reading this if a girl comes up to ur face anf call u a whore or a slut u better pimp slap them and bet them up the girls on bad girls club dnt let them rule ur life with those comments or get u a getto blck chic to jit them
Isabel Melville (author) from Planet Earth on November 13, 2011:
I think she appeared on TV because far from the story dropping when she turned 18, it became an even hotter internet topic as she was now 'legal'. If it hadn't been for the news story, we might all believe she was complicit in everything that has happened so far, so I think she has done the right thing. As for the smiling, well I can't comment on that expect to say that newspaper reports say she has a ready smile and smiles a lot. It certainly doesn't mean she is happy about what has happened. And yes keeping her clothes on was the most important thing!
courtlneygdtm from United States on November 13, 2011:
Thanks for posting this hub. I saw her story on a news show. I had not heard of her before I happened to channel surf to a news show. I believe she is 18 now, but from her demeanor on the TV show, it looks like she has some growing up to do. Maybe she was nervous, but she smiled at lot, like it wasn't such a big deal. She did have a few crying spells when she talked about people calling her bad names. Also, by her being on a major news story, she may get the wrong message that she got notoriety by doing what she did. No suggestive poses -- no appearing on a TV show. Hopefully parents, young girls and others will get the message that posting anything on the internet is like opening your front door and letting anyone and everyone inside your home. The internet has diminished the sense of privacy as it was defined before the ".com" age. Young girls and others do not need to add to the lack of privacy by posting suggestive pictures on the internet. If there is something to be said for her poses, even though they were sexually suggestive -- at least she kept her clothes on!
--courtlney
Isabel Melville (author) from Planet Earth on November 13, 2011:
I think what makes it really easy for young girls (and boys) to take those kinds of pictures and upload them is the advent of digital photography. Once upon a time (not so long ago) the only way to get your photos developed was to hand them into a pharmacy who offered a photo developing service. No-one in their right mid took any sort of intimate photos, knowing these people could see them. Now it is too easy to act first and think later. And yes you are spot on, we need to teach kids to be careful.
LaDena Campbell from Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Near Oz... on November 13, 2011:
It is sad that young girls think that it is okay to take provocative pictures in the first place - I know that hers where much less provocative than millions of other teens and tweens, but girls needs to learn that they are more than just provocative pictures. In today's world of social media, pictures like this can be used in so many sordid ways.
I am not saying that she did anything wrong. She deserves sympathy. But girls - and boys too - need to be extra careful about what they share with others...even if they think it will be private...
Isabel Melville (author) from Planet Earth on November 13, 2011:
I read her story in a news item where she was described as the most Googled person on the planet, then I read the comments underneath the news item where people admitted to Googling her name because of the news article. So I did the same and what I saw frightened even me. Only the news reports stemming from the ABC News interview tell the truth, the rest are blatant lies from hundreds of thousands of people, and Angie Verona and her family have lived with this for 4 years! Even her 18th birthday was cause for celebration to the morons - she went from being labelled 'barely legal' to 'legal'. if not for the news reports, it would be easy to believe she really was a junior porn star! Can you imagine the embarrassment and the mental torture this girl and her family have been put through?
Aravind Balasubramanya from Puttaparthi, India on November 12, 2011:
Very very thought provoking hub! It is also a grim reminder of the nascent bestiality in man that comes jumping up at the slightest chance.
MazioCreate from Brisbane Queensland Australia on November 12, 2011:
Interesting topic! Angie Varona, like so many others involved in social media, are suffering because it is so easy to get anything 'out there'. I only hope she and others who suffer this insidious behaviour are able to move on to some semblance of normalacy with their lives.
