Here’s How Jasmine Sanders Gained 5.7 Million Instagram Followers

The SI Swimsuit model opened up about her social media growth during 2022 Miami Swim Week.

Jasmine Sanders attends KeyTV’s Launch Party Celebration.Momodu Mansaray/Getty Images

SI Swimsuit model Jasmine Sanders is an OG social media influencer. The 31-year-old started as an artsy Tumblr girl, regularly posting and reposting aesthetic content. She now has 5.7 million followers on Instagram, where you might recognize her as @goldenbarbie. Her content includes tons of beach and bikini content, but she’s also using her platform for social progress.

“I started back in the fun days where there was a Popular page,” Sanders explained during 2022 Miami Swim Week. “But I think a lot of it had to do with Tumblr as well. People like to say I was Tumblr famous and reposting and stuff a lot on there. I feel like those people went to Instagram and just came and found me.”

The South Carolina native was SI Swimsuit’s Rookie of the Year in 2019 and has shot for the magazine every year since. She landed the cover alongside Kate Bock and Olivia Culpo in 2020.

Sanders added that she tries to give fans and followers the “good stuff,” and that includes “little bikinis.” She also revealed in a 2021 interview with the SI Swimsuit team that having a large platform means using it to amplify her opinions on things that matter.

“Being a Black woman, this year is the year that I’m the most proud of being who I am,” she said. “I did all of these amazing things and built this platform. It wouldn’t have been anything if I didn’t take the time to scream about the things that are happening around this country. There’s not going to be a second that I stop speaking about it. We can all stand together. We can all make a change. You can do that. You feel it.”

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Sanders also mentioned during Miami Swim Week that her username has gone through multiple iterations over the years on various social media and communication platforms. She started on Myspace as something along the lines of “life size barbie doll.” Her school teachers used to call her Goldilocks, and friends used to call her Barbie.

“We threw it together and somehow it worked,” she recalled. “We’re going to make this last as long as possible.”