Korea’s Instagram year in review highlights studying and exercising. The country topped the global rankings in terms of likes and followers for the fourth consecutive year, according to a report by social media analytics firm Socialbakers. This has been largely attributed to students’ pursuit of good grades and fitness enthusiasts’ interest in healthy lifestyles, as both pursuits have become key markers of success in Korea.

Aside from Korea, the United States had the most followers on Instagram with 1.39 billion users as of September 2018. However, Korea’sInstagram presence continues to grow rapidly as more people turn to social media platforms for news and entertainment. In addition to its dominant ranking in terms of likes and followers, Socialbakers also measured how often brands are mentioning countries on their Instagram accounts.

The company says hashtags helped people overcome their inhibitions and become closer to their interests. Kim Jin-ah, the country director of Meta Korea, spoke at a news conference at the Instagram headquarters in southern Seoul, on June 17.

So as people respond to specific hashtags and analyze the numbers, we can observe what social tendencies were huge in Korea in the past.

Kim kept calling it “Gongstagram”, a portmanteau of lang (Korean for Chinese script) and the hanja for life. It’s a slang term for a person who is living well, diligently and avoiding anything that prevents him from living.

Social media refers to the websites and apps on the internet that young users now use to connect with peers, post videos, images, articles, and blogs, and live chat and message each other. Historically, adults stressed the importance of keeping your phone put away while studying but now these tools have been found to be useful in staying motivated, sharing information, and building a network.

A hashtag popular in Korea was ounwan, which stands for the Korean phrase, today’s workout is complete. There were over 3.8 million posts with this exact hashtag, and another 1.33 million posts tagged with walking 10,000 steps (translated).

That acting and exercising were the big trends in the times as of late, which motivated young people to be very determined, as Kim explained.

The most popular happening in town was Seongsu-dong, located in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul. It became so sought after that the most vital local happenings were reported there.