Instagram released some end-of-the-year stats this morning and surprise! Coming in at 1,496,070 likes, the most popular Instagram of the year belongs to that rambunctious singing man-child Justin Bieber.

The winning photo is one he posted just four months back featuring "uncle" Will Smith (who we blame as the real reason this photo was so well-received).

Appearing on NBC Today earlier this morning, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom offered invaluable insight into why this particular photo caught on.

"I just think people love pictures of people, and it seemed like a fun picture," the app creator thoughtfully explained. "They were having fun."

He then added: "I think it's because he has 12 million followers."

The photo-centric social network, which was purchased by Facebook this year for $1 billion, also revealed the most popular hashtag of all of 2013: #love.

In a bit of an outlier, the most popular location identified by users of the app is not in Silicon Valley, or New York City, but Bangkok, Thailand. The Siam Paragon (สยามพารากอน) shopping mall, which Instagram says is a massive Bangkok shopping complex, movie theater and aquarium, edged out 2012’s most-popular location, Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

New Yorkers can take solace knowing their city claimed three of the top 10 spots, with Times Square at #2, Central Park at #7, and the beautiful High Line at #10.