Olivia Dunne Shares Her Most Viral Posts and Advice on How to Succeed on Social Media

The 2023 SI Swimsuit model has grown her platform to more than 11 million followers on Instagram and TikTok.

Olivia Dunne was photographed by Ben Watts in Puerto Rico.Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne is earning financial success through social media like never before. She’s taking advantage of NCAA rules put in place in July 2021, allowing college athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness. As a result, students like Dunne, the Cavinder twins and Lexi Sun have been able to enter into money-making brand deals and sponsorships.

As the highest-paid female college athlete in the world, Dunne knows a thing or two about what works well on social media—and if her 3.9 million Instagram followers and 7.4 million TikTok followers aren’t convincing enough, consider her seven-figure salary.

The 20-year-old, who is a brand ambassador for Vuori and American Eagle, is a 2023 SI Swimsuit model and will make her debut in the magazine in May.

Most of Dunne’s TikToks go viral—whether it’s a take on a popular trend, a moment for the sparkly purple leotard or locker room shenanigans with teammates. Her most popular post, with 40.1 million views, is a video of Dunne perfectly sticking a landing after a bars routine.

“I can’t even wrap my head around [the number of views],” she gushes. “I’m just showing off my gymnastics.”

Her most-liked Instagram posts are a picture of herself getting ready to mount the beam at practice and a snap of herself decked out in Vuori clothing while posing in the snow.

She tries to maintain authenticity on social media while depicting a balance of gymnastics, school, friends and fun in her life. What she’s most proud of, however, is the new audience she’s been able to reel in.

“I feel like in a way I kind of introduced a whole new audience to college gymnastics, which is honestly kind of like a main goal of mine and it’s happening, so I just think that’s really awesome because the sport really deserves recognition and a positive spotlight,” she says. “I feel like [my target audience connects with my content] because I do relatable, normal things. I am a college student, people do college sports, so in a way I feel like that’s an attainable thing, that I’m not just TikToker or a social media influencer. It’s a way to show that you can do whatever you want with social media and if you do sports, it’s possible to do it all.”

Dunne quickly learned that with internet fame unfortunately comes a mixed bag of feedback and negative comments. She emphasizes that positive comments—especially from women—mean the world to her. Though she has developed a thick skin and witty vocabulary to respond to trolls, she occasionally chooses to block people who take it too far.

“Make a joke out of things when people are being too serious,” she notes regarding her approach for interacting with rude followers. “It’s a nice way to process it all. [Social media] is supposed to be fun.”

Dunne admits that she doesn’t take life too seriously and feels the most confident when she’s being “undeniably herself”—someone who is funny and easygoing, and enjoys letting loose.

She adds that the first thing people say when they meet her for the first time—as opposed to consuming her online content on the daily—is that she’s a lot less intimidating and more “smiley.”

The college junior has received important advice in the past that still sticks with her, but there are also bits of information she wishes she could tell her younger self.

“The best piece of business advice I’ve gotten is to be consistent since my brand is social media,” she says. “One thing I’d suggest to a 13-year-old girl just getting on social media is just be undeniably yourself and don’t compare yourself to others, because social media is meant to be fun.”

Dunne also feels passionately about standing up for herself. Last November when The New York Times published an article featuring her titled “New Endorsements for College Athletes Resurface an Old Concern: Sex Sells,” she clapped back with a sassy and sarcastic Instagram story. At first Dunne says it felt like “the end of the world,” but fans, friends, journalists, influencers and athletes came to her defense. Many critics deemed the story sexist.

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A post shared by Olivia Dunne (@livvydunne)

"I just feel like everyone wanted what’s best for me after that, and it just meant a lot,” she adds. “Even you guys at SI were so supportive.”

The Hillsdale, N.J., native says that she’s proud to be featured in a magazine that aligns with her values of uplifting women and maintaining the idea that women don’t have to be modest to be respected.

“There’s a lot of young girls who look up to me, and I feel like a lot of young girls also follow Sports Illustrated,” she says. “We both want to inspire the younger generation.”

Meet Olivia Dunne—read the 2023 SI Swimsuit model’s full feature profile here.