MUMBAI: With the aim of acknowledging its most engaging community members across the country, Instagram announced the Instagrammer of the Year 2019 awards. With a global community of over 1 billion users, Instagram has become the place where people across the world come together to create unique content, engage with the people they love and connect with others on shared interests. 

In its second edition, the awards recognize achievements across categories like Most Followed, Engaged Account of the Year, Storyteller of the year, Rising Star of the year, Fashion, Food and Entertainment accounts of the year. The winners represent individuals who have best embraced Instagram’s power of visual storytelling, engaging fans and building a strong community across its various surfaces and features including the feed, Live, stories, IGTV and more.

While announcing the awards, Saket Jha Saurabh, head, entertainment partnerships, Facebook India said, “It's heartening to see young people come to Instagram everyday to share memorable experiences and engage with the things they're passionate about. The Instagrammer of the Year awards are a way for us to recognize creators who epitomize the spirit of our platform, where connections evolve into communities and passions meet products in an inimitable way. They have especially played an important role in helping us maintain authenticity and creating a space for diversity of expression on the platform.”

And the winners are...

With 39 million followers, a global fan base, and many international projects, Bollywood diva, Priyanka Chopra Jonas (@priyankachopra) emerged as the “Most Followed Account” this year.

Impromptu Boomerangs at the Cannes Film Festival, slo0mo videos while catching a flight or an AMA with fans, Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) was awarded as the “Storyteller of the Year” for the account with the most engaging stories.

From providing a sneak peek into the locker room, to his grueling training sessions or an off-field selfie, Indian Cricket Team Captain, Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli) emerged as the most “Engaged Account of the Year”.

Sara Ali Khan (@saraalikhan95), who's blockbuster Bollywood debut wowed audiences, also made her Instagram debut in 2018 and wins the “Rising Star Award” for growing her fan base on the community significantly through the year.

·       Macaron queen, Chef Pooja Dhingra (@poojadhingra), won the “Food Account of the Year”, recognizing her for her creative and detectable food content.

·       Comedian & singer, Bhuvan Bam (@bhuvan.bam22), whose vines have most of the internet laughing out loud, won the “Entertainment Account of the Year” award.

·       Fashionista Sejal Kumar (@sejalkumar1195), with her chic photoshoots and street style posts, was awarded with the “Fashion Account of the Year”.

Here’s what the winners are saying:

·       Deepika Padukone - "Well, what I really cherish about social media is the fact that it gives me the opportunity to interact with my fans directly and connect in a way that is personal and authentic. And considering I'm someone who doesn’t say much with words, but more through emotions, I think photographs are a great way for me to express myself.”

·       Sara Ali Khan - “Instagram is a platform that allows me to be myself and to stay connected with audiences in the most direct and organic way. Not to mention it also allows me to salivate over great food, look at interesting and new places to travel to and of course stalk people!”

·       Pooja Dhingra - “Instagram is my go-to community for all things food! Whether it’s to find fellow foodies to work with me, scour for global dessert trends or do a sneak peak of my newest recipe – Instagram has helped me in more than one way, and I am grateful for all the love I receive from the community.”

·       Bhuvan Bam - “I am thankful to the Instagram community and my fans for all their overwhelming love! Instagram is a great place for creators like me to connect with likeminded people and create diverse content that has the potential to inspire many. I look forward to sharing more love and laughter on the community through 2019.”

·       Sejal Kumar - “Instagram has allowed me to showcase my true self with my community where I share my fashion preferences, travel tales and music, and engage with like-minded people. I'm thankful for all the love from the community and hope to create more cool and creative content in 2019!”

Instagram also recently announced the launch of a civic engagement sticker in Stories to encourage consumers in India to share their excitement around voting and encourage others to vote too. Globally, Instagram has also recently announced a Quiz sticker to ask your friends and followers multiple choice questions.