Instagram’s biggest moments in 2016, from celebrities and sports stars to #love

If you’re not following Selena Gomez  on Instagram, you might be the only one.

The social media site recently released a recap of their top moments for 2016, and the pop star has been crowned the queen of selfies and content. Not only did the 24-year-old amass the most followers (she’s now got 103 million of them), she’s also responsible for nearly all of the most-liked celebrity posts in 2016 (despite taking a 14-week break from social media this year).

Gomez beat out Taylor Swift (93.6 million followers), Beyoncé (88.9 million followers) and Kylie and Kendall Jenner (79.5 million and 68.9 million followers, respectively) to top the photo-sharing site’s list of most popular celebrities. The only men among the top 10 were soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo (82.3 million followers) and Dwayne Johnson (71 million followers).

READ MORE: Selena Gomez returns to rehab to ‘focus on mental health’

Top 10 Most-Followed Celebrities on Instagram in 2016:

1. Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) – 103 million followers
2. Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) – 93.6 million followers
3. Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) – 89.6 million followers
4. Beyoncé (@beyonce) – 88.9 million followers
5. Kim Kardashian (@kimkardashian) – 87.8 million followers
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) – 82.3 million followers
7. Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner) – 79.5 million followers
8. Dwayne Johnson (@therock) – 71 million followers
9. Nicki Minaj (@nickiminaj) – 69 million followers
10. Kendall Jenner (@kendalljenner) – 68.9 million followers

Top 10 most-followed musician accounts on Instagram in 2016:

1. Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) – 103 million followers
2. Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) – 93.6 million followers
3. Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) – 89.6 million followers
4. Beyoncé (@beyonce) – 88.9 million followers
5. Nicki Minaj (@nickiminaj) – 69 million followers
6. Katy Perry (@katyperry) – 58.9 million followers
7. Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus)  – 56.4 million followers
8. Jennifer Lopez (@jlo) – 54 million followers
9. Rihanna (@badgalriri) – 54 million followers
10. Drake (@champagnepapi) – 30.4 million followers

READ MORE: Drake tops 2016 Spotify streams with over 4 billion plays

Gomez also had eight of the 10 most popular celebrity photos and seven of the top 10 celebrity videos.

Her most popular picture, with 5.9 million likes, is an ad for Coke. Other popular snaps show her performing onstage and posing with a fan.

READ MORE: 5 of the biggest allegations made in Leah Remini’s Scientology docuseries

Ronaldo posted the other top two photos on the list, with both pics being of him with the Euro 2016 trophy.

The top hashtag for sports events, leagues and teams was #rio2016, with #euro2016 coming in second. Madison Square Garden in New York City is the spot where fans geotagged the most photos and videos in 2016. Global soccer stars are the biggest athletes on Instagram this year.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Top 10 most-followed athlete accounts on Instagram in 2016:

Swift, Kardashian and soccer star Messi claimed the other three spots on the list of celebrity videos. Swift’s video is of her cat.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAVlDg6DvIC/?taken-by=taylorswift&hl=en

Kardashian’s and Messi’s are of their children.

READ MORE: Kelly Ripa won’t rule out Billy Bush, Kardashians for ‘Live!’ co-host

As for Canadian stats, Drake and Shawn Mendes top the list for most-followed Canadians of 2016.

Most-followed Canadians of 2016: As of Wednesday, 11/30

1. Drake (@champagnepapi)- 30.4 million followers
2. Shawn Mendes (@shawnmendes) – 16.1 million followers
3. The Weeknd (@theweeknd) – 7.6 million followers
4. Avril Lavigne (@avrillavigne) – 4.2 million followers
5. Farah Dhukai (@farahdhukai) – 4.1 million followers
6. Kristen Hancher (@kristenhancher) – 2.2 million followers
7. Lyzabeth Lopez (@lyzabethlopez) – 2.1 million followers
8. deadmau5 (@deadmau5) – 2 million followers
9. Jeremy Bieber (@jeremybieber) – 1.9 million followers
10. Yolanda Gampp (@yolanda_gampp) – 1.9 million followers

The most-liked Canadian celebrity posts of 2016 come from Drake and Mendes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BL9lykBD4dj/

READ MORE: Kanye West checks out of medical centre after 9 days: report

The top Canadian hashtag goes to #Toronto, with #love coming in second.

Top Canadian hashtags:

1. #toronto
2. #love
3. #canada
4. #vancouver
5. #instagood
6. #summer
7. #beautiful
8. #travel
9. #nature
10. #art

Niagara Falls is the most Instagrammed location in Canada for 2016, followed by Rogers Centre Toronto Blue Jays Game.

Most Instagrammed Canadian locations of 2016 (based on geotag data):

1. Niagara Falls
2. Rogers Centre Toronto Blue Jays Game
3. Air Canada Centre
4. Toronto Pearson International Airport
5. Canada’s Wonderland
6. Vieux Port de Montreal
7. CN Tower / La Tour CN
8. Vancouver International Airport
9. Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
10. Whistler Blackcomb

READ MORE: The top 10 worst songs of 2016, according to Time magazine

Apart from the celebrity stats and Canadian stats, the site also said that Disney and Universal theme parks were the most popular places among its 500 million active users over the past year. Other oft-Instagrammed spots include New York’s Time Square and Central Park and the Eiffel Tower and Louvre museum in Paris.

The Most-Instagrammed locations of 2016 (based on global geotag data):

1. Disney Theme Parks (global)
2. Universal Studios Theme Parks (global)
3. Central Park (N.Y.C.)
4. Times Square, New York City
5. Eiffel Tower (Paris)
6. Louvre Museum (Paris)
7. Las Vegas Strip (Las Vegas)
8. Santa Monica Pier (L.A.)
9. Brooklyn Bridge (N.Y.C.)
10. ВДНХ / Vystavka Dostizheniy Narodnogo Khozyaystva (Moscow)

The site said the most popular emoji in 2016 was the heart and the top hashtag was #love.

The Most-Used Instagram Filters of 2016:

1. Clarendon
2. Gingham
3. Juno
4. Lark
5. Moon

The Most-Used Emoji on Instagram in 2016:

1.❤️

2.😍

3.😂

4.😘

5. 💕

6. 😊

7.  👌

8. ✌️

9. 🎉

10. 💙

The Most-Instagrammed Days of 2016:

1. Halloween – 10/31/16
2. The 15th Anniversary of 9/11 – 9/11/16
3. Euro Cup Final – 7/10/16
4. United States Election – 11/6/16
5. Olympics – 8/14/15
6. Father’s Day – 6/19/16
7. Paris Fashion Week – 10/1/16
8. Mother’s Day – 5/8/16
9. New Year’s Day – 1/1/16
10. Easter Sunday – 3/27/16

With files from The Associated Press