Welcome to Instagram country spotlight. This month, we round-up the latest trends in South Korea. #NoFilter
1. Celebrate
The Korean Instagram community came together to celebrate Worldwide InstaMeet 11 (#WWIM11). This was the most globally diverse event to date with 4 million people engaged with WWIM11-related photos across the globe, from Changdeok Palace in Seoul, to Kenawa Island, Indonesia, and even the White House in the US.
2. Get closer to Seoul Fashion Week #SFW
Fashion Week used to be an industry-invite only event but social networks have changed that and today, every fashion week has a truly global audience. 25 million people engaged with fashion week content on Instagram, resulting in more than 140 million likes and comments. Source: Instagram, 12 February - 12 March, 2015.
3. Seeing double
Did you know that one in five monthly active users on Instagram shares images that combine multiple photos, and 90 per cent of those images are of people?
Mirror shot by Jina Han (@jinaehan), style blogger, and high school student.
4. Star power
Fans of Korean celebrities are quick to demonstrate their support online. Korean actor and model Lee Kwang-soo joined Instagram (@masijacoke850714), attracting more than 300,000 followers in two days. K Pop f(x) member Krystal Jung (@vousmevoyez), saw over 170,000 followers within nine hours, and actor Kim Soohyun (@soohyun_k216) was followed by more than 60,000 people within a span of four hours. K Pop EXO member, Byun Baek-hyun (@baekhyunee_exo) posted a photo after being inactive for about nine months, which garnered 475,000 likes and 184,000 comments within two days.
5. Korea's #hashtags
Popular Korean hashtags are formed by combining “topic” with “stagram”. Frequently used hashtags include #먹스타그램(eat+stagram) #빵스타그램 (bread+stagram), #셀스타그램 (selfie+stagram), #옷스타그램 (clothes+stagram), #멍스타그램 (woof+stagram) and even #냥스타그램 (meow+stagram). The #먹스타그램 “Eat-stagram” sensation in the Busan area has led to increased number of patrons visiting dining spots based on food photos shared on Instagram.
6. Show some love
#Love was the most used hashtag of 2014 and 2013 on Instagram. On White Day, 14 March, couples, families, friends and celebs including actress Han ye-seul (@leslie_allwehaveisus), and singer IU (@dlwlrma), expressed their love and gratitude through the use of #화이트데이 (#whiteday) and #화이트데이선물 (#whitedaygift).
7. Rally support
The Korea Football Association (@thekfa) rallied support from its community and invited followers to share personal messages using the hashtag #차두리고마워 (Thank you Cha Du-ri) on Instagram and Facebook.
8. Tell a unique story
POSCO (@hello_posco), the Korean multinational steel-making company, is bridging an understanding of the steel manufacturing process with its followers through #steelgram visual storytelling.