With 2018 almost coming to a close, we’d love to highlight some trends from theyear and share all the different ways Instagram’s global community came to theplatform to creatively express themselves and get closer to the people – andthings – they love.
We’re heartened to see that sharing love and kindness is still a top priorityfor the Instagram community: the Heart Love Sticker by Aratawas the most-used Giphy sticker in Stories, while Heart Eyes wasthe most-used Face Filter in Stories. In Feed, the ❤ emoji was used incomments over 14 billion times.The happiest place in theworld? Disneyland Tokyo, which saw the highest use of ❤ in the caption!
Instagram is home to countless interests and communities; this year, ASMRwas the top niche community trend of the year, with soap cutting, slimepopping and makeup shaving continuing its steep rise in popularity. The gameFortnite also saw explosive growth with #fortnite being the fastestgrowing hashtag globally. K-pop’s dominance on social media isreflected by BTS“Army” being the top fandom community on the platform. The biggestviral dance challenge of the year was also born on Instagram, with #inmyfeelingschallenge,which included everyone from @theshiggyshow to @willsmith, comingin at number 1.
Across our India community in particular, kindness and love tookcenter stage as people from across the country took to Instagram to share thethings they love. #love secured the top spot when it comes to themost used hashtag followed, which was closely followed by #instagoodand #fashion. Beyond this, the highest growth hashtag in Indiawas #lovequotes.
Last but not least, millions of people across the globe used Instagram to maketheir voices heard in 2018. The year’s top advocacy hashtags were #metoo (1.5million), #timesup(597K), #marchforourlives(562K), demonstrating that Instagram can be a powerful platform forpeople to speak out and bring light to meaningful causes.
Instagram’s 2018 Year in Review:
- Most Used Face Filter in Instagram Stories: Heart Eyes
- Most Used Giphy Sticker on Instagram Stories: Heart Love Sticker by Arata
- Number of times ❤ was used in comments: 14 billion
- Happiest Geotagged Location in the World (highest use of🙂 in the caption): Disneyland Tokyo
- Top Niche Community Trend: ASMR
- Highest Growth Hashtag Community: #fortnite
- Top Fandom Community: BTS
- Top Dance Movement: #inmyfeelingschallenge
- Top Advocacy Hashtags: #metoo (1.5 million), #timesup (597K), #marchforourlives (562K)
India specific data
- Top hashtags in India
- #love
- #instagood
- #fashion
- Most Used Giphy Sticker on Instagram Stories India: Heart Love Sticker by Arata
- Highest Growth Hashtag India: #lovequotes
- Most loved posts in India:
- Virat Kohli: https://www.instagram.com/p/BiOIfIzgRbr/
- Anushka Sharma: https://www.instagram.com/anushkasharma/p/BgLubI3Avgy/
- M S Dhoni: https://www.instagram.com/p/BjSyjBfnmma/
- Akshay Kumar: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg5TsHIhHY5/
- Jacqueline Fernandez: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnsQk0AnLGL/
- Top geotagged locations across India in 2018:
- Mumbai
- New Delhi
- Bangalore
- Hyderabad
- Ahmedabad
- Pune
- Chennai
- Jaipur
- Surat
- Kolkata
We hope this roundup inspires you to use Instagram to spread joy and kindness this holiday season.