Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, especially for the youth. It is so much more than a picture or video-sharing platform. Instagram revealed this year’s trending hashtags and that goes to show the influence that the platform has on people.
More than 2+ people are active on Instagram. It is one of the few apps that have been consistently popular over the years. When it was introduced, it was just a way for people to share images. But now it has become so much more than that.
People share not only what is happening in their lives, but also news and other information that is relevant to them. A lot of the important news that was not shown by the mainstream media reaches the masses through hashtags on Instagram.
Trending Hashtags of 2022
Here are the trending hashtags of 2022. As the year comes to an end, Instagram shared the top trending hashtags of the platform with the caption “From air fryers to anime, these were the top trending hashtags of 2022 🚀”. Let’s take a look at them and the possible reason why they were trending this year.
#MahsaAmini
Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian woman who allegedly lost her life in police custody after she was arrested for improperly wearing the hijab in Iran. Although the police and the government refuted the claims, protests erupted countrywide.
The protests have been ongoing since September where women are asking for the freedom to choose what they want to wear.
#TaylorSwift
This has been Taylor Swift’s year. She was the top winner at VMAs where she took home the video of the year, the best long-form video, and the best direction for All Too Well: The Short Film.
However, the biggest surprise was perhaps the announcement of her tenth album called Midnight. Her fans, known as Swifties, celebrated each achievement by making her name trend and it is therefore one of the top trending hashtags on Instagram in 2022.
#StandWithUkraine
This year also saw the unfortunate breakout of war between Ukraine and Russia where more than 6,826 civilians lost their lives. This drew international outrage and attention, which also resulted in itbecoming the trending hashtag of the year.
#FIFAWORLDCUP2022
This year, the biggest soccer world cup took place in Qatar. Football enthusiasts shared many pictures and videos of the games with the hashtag. A lot of controversy also went down as Qatar got a lot of flack from the Western media for not adhering to its standards. But it is said to have been one of the greatest world cups so far!
#NFT
Non-Fungible Tokens, known as NFT boomed this year. Many headlines appeared of random people selling their creations online for millions of dollars. Most of them also ended up being worthless in a couple of months, but it did take the internet by storm.
#AirFryer
If there is an innovation of this generation, it is the air fryer. Although it was invented back in 2005, it gained a lot of popularity this year. A lot of people invested in one and loved it, and thus it became one of the trending hashtags of the year.
#StrangerThings
The new season of Stranger Things dropped this year. It is the most-watched Netflix series in the English language in the first 28 days on the platform. The Netflix original series had a lot of twists and turns in the new season which left the fans at the edge of their seats.
Overall, over 1.35 billion hours of the show have been watched so far. The premier alone saw over 287 million hours, which is a record in itself. With each season, the series becomes more and more popular. A lot of people watched the new season when it dropped and also shared it with the hashtag, that is how it became one of the trending hashtags this year.
#SpyXFamily
It was a big year for people who love manga. The action-packed comedy is about a fake family that has a telepath, an assassin, and a spy. It has a rating of over 8.5/10 on IMDb with over 24,081 votes.
The trailer alone has well over 2.5 million views in 9 months. The second half of Spy X Family premiered in October. A second season along with an anime movie for the same was also announced this year, exciting the fans and becoming one of the trending hashtags of the year.
As of December, the series has about 29 million copies in circulation, which makes it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.
#Bookstagram
Bookstagram is a corner in Instagram where book lovers meet and talk about the books that they are reading. The online community of bookworms uses this hashtag to connect with one another. They share information about the book that they are reading and more.
A simple search of the hashtag on Instagram would reveal millions and millions of photos of like-minded people talking about books.
#JamesWebbSpaceTelescope
2022 has certainly been monumental in regard to astronomy. The James Webb Space Telescope has the largest optical telescope till now. Its sensitivity and high resolution allow it to see objects that were not previously visible to us.
The pictures shared by Webb Space left millions of people shocked at the idea of all that exists outside of our world and how insignificant we are. The most distant star that it has captured is 28 billion light years away.
The photos taken by the telescope were doing circles on Instagram as more and more people wanted to be a part of this historical moment and shared it.
These are the trending hashtags that Instagram shared on their social media. How they were chosen or shortlisted was not revealed. However, Instagram did mention at the bottom of the picture that “Instagram data based on hashtag follower count”.
There is also this feature where you can follow certain hashtags so the popular pictures or videos using that hashtag would show up on your feed without you having to follow anyone.
Although there may have been many more hashtags that made it on the trending list, the ones provided by Instagram were certainly popular this year. As other platforms like Spotify share the top songs that you listened to this year, Instagram came up with its version.
The distinction between the hashtags like air fryer and the Ukraine-Russia war showed how different things are of value to the people.
