Olivia Dunne Does Not Pay Attention To Her Massive Follower Count On TikTok Or Instagram, Here's Why:

Olivia Dunne has more than 12 million followers between TikTok and Instagram. That doesn't even include Snapchat or Twitter.

There is not another college athlete on the planet with more followers than the 20-year-old LSU gymnast. Not one. She is the queen of social media when it comes to NCAA athletes.

Although Olivia Dunne has been able to leverage her massive following and household name brand into a lucrative business through NIL, the amount of people that hit the follow button is not her concern. Followers are important, but they are not the focus.

Dunne spent Wednesday afternoon speaking to many of the top college football recruits in the Class of 2024 at the On3 NIL Elite Series in Nashville. During the conversation, which was moderated by OutKick's Jonathan Hutton, she spoke about how the last year offered her some really cool opportunities.

Among them, Dunne was in a Walker Hayes music video and featured on a billboard in New York. While that was great, it was her appearance in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition that fulfilled a life-long dream.

Amidst the whirlwind of a year, Dunne did not take her foot off of the gas. She continues to post on social media, continues to build her portfolio and continues to chase the next goal.

Olivia Dunne remains consistent.

And within that consistency, the focus is engagement. Not followers, engagement.


To keep (the momentum) going, you have to be consistent. Look at your engagement on social media. That's something that I find very important with my audience— seeing how they engage with my posts, because that's what brands look at too.

Her mother, Katherine, offered similar sentiments to the Class of 2024 recruits when it comes to building a social media presence.


Be willing to show a little bit more of yourself than just your sport. I think that brands really connect with you as a person. They like to see who you are, and what your values are, and what you stand for.

For Dunne, that element of "showing more than your sport" also includes being comfortable with being uncomfortable. She admitted that it was not easy at first.

Speaking specifically to followers, Hutton joked that he would be thrilled to reach 60,000 followers. Dunne has more than 12 million and can't even begin to wrap her head around her follower count.

However, in terms of building her brand, she reiterated that followers will come after they get to your profile. It is all about engagement. Dunne focuses on understanding her audience, what they are saying in the comments, how many eyeballs are on a specific post, and how her posts showcase her personality, values and interests.

There is a lot of trial and error involved. There is a lot of learning involved. Engagement, and in turn, followers, don't come overnight.

Dunne will be a senior at LSU. She is most concerned with having a great year in the gym, and enjoying her final year of college.

But her business never stops. Dunne has built a media empire that has set her up for a career well beyond her time in Baton Rouge and does not plan to scale back her emphasis on social media any time soon.