LSU sensation Olivia “Livvy” Dunne makes the news regardless of her presence in the gymnastics arena. She has a massive social media following, surpassing famous figures like Michael Phelps, Derek Jeter, Cher, Sunisa Lee, and even Beyoncé on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Olivia Dunne has had an Instagram account for half of her life, starting at age 10. Her journey from a young Instagram user to an internet sensation has been swift, marked by her regular postings that have garnered her fame. However, that comes with its challenges.

Her consistent sharing of photos and updates has undoubtedly contributed to her massive following, but it has also made her a target for online negativity and harassment. Recently, she hinted at her struggles with internet harassment and insecurity in a post. The TikTok star helped LSU’s gymnastics team secure its first-ever NCAA title, making her a national champion. After the win, she captured a series of striking photos from the event. One among those appeared to cryptically bring out her not-so-pleasant memories with social media. 

In that picture, in a Snapchat post, Livvy is lying with another gymnast, Kiya Johnson, hiding both her feet with the caption, “Censerod, censored”. These recent pictures further underscore that her struggles with insecurity persist. Dunne has an Instagram following of 3.7m and on TikTok, 7.2m accounts. Since the NCAA permitted student-athletes to earn money from their NIL deals in 2021, Olivia Dunne has secured millions of dollars in sponsorship deals. But, this isn’t the first instance where she’s revealed this insecurity through the media;

Embracing social media: a necessary peril

In an interview with Elle Magazine, Olivia Dunne mentioned that she opts not to attend her college classes on campus “for safety reasons.” This has led her to stop sharing a lot in public as she said, “There were some scares in the past, and I just want to be as careful as possible, I don’t want people to know my daily schedule and where I am.” And this measure is not without reason. We can recall the incident on the LSU campus that prompted coach Jay Clark to contact the police. It took place on February 9, 2022, when an unidentified man was observed inside the team’s facility, watching the gymnasts. Another took place at the University of Utah.

During Olivia Dunne’s 2023 gymnastics season opener at the University of Utah, 100 to 200 unruly male fans disrupted the event, chanting during routines and harassing other female gymnasts. Dunne wasn’t even competing that day. She felt discouraged by the notion that she was inviting harassment because of her online posts. But she was not at fault here. However, being lashed out without any fault of her did not happen just on that occasion.

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A few days back, Livvy was stunned to discover she has more Instagram followers than Michael Phelps, with about $4. On this also fans teased her for surpassing Olympic champion Phelps in Instagram followers. Fans posted comments like, “You get more fame for being a girl”, and “People like to look at women more than men. Are we really surprised by this?” But why do such things happen in the first place? According to Jay Clark, “I think it creates a false sense of accessibility and familiarity that followers feel as though they know there’s a personal sort of connection.” While it might be overwhelming to handle all these for a 21-year-old, it seems that Olivia has started learning that lately as she has stood firmly on some occasions.

Olivia Dunne puts up a brave face to safeguard herself

Olivia was once criticized on an online platform for posting her bold pictures. But she shut it down right there as she told Elle, “It’s not a girl’s responsibility how a man looks at her or how he acts, especially when you’re doing your sport and that’s your uniform. I can’t help the way I look, and I’m going to post what I feel comfortable with.” Livvy believes this boldness has grown out of her maturity and her understanding of the importance of striking a balance. So how does she do that?

“It’s just compartmentalizing things mentally is very important in my everyday routine…That’s really important because if you don’t have balance, that can affect your mental health,” Livvy said. Olivia Dunne’s story succinctly highlights the pitfalls of her immense success and fan following and the complexities associated with it. But Livvy seems to have truly learned to brace it, when she says, “To see a woman winning? People sometimes have a lot to say…but the best way to get that to stop is to keep being successful at what you’re doing.” We also wish to see you get all the success, girl!