Justin Bieber And Will Smith Nab Instagram’s Most Liked Picture Of 2013

The top Instagram picture of 2013 goes to… Justin Bieber and Will Smith.

The 19-year-old R&B/pop prince and After Earth actor beat out millions of other contenders (reportedly over 55 million are posted to the photo sharing platform daily) to take the most “Liked” Instagram crown with over one million hits.

The actual figure that won the day: 1,496,070.

This has now risen to 1.5 million (and counting) at time of posting.

Uploaded by Bieber on August 15 and captioned “Me and uncle Will,” the snap features the pair in a smiley, arm-over-shoulder pose.

Smith, 45, is rocking a peace sign, ‘dad’ muscles and sportswear, while the Biebs is resplendent in tattoos, a gold Pharaoh medallion and a gold watch.

We think it’s fairly safe to assume the mint is real.

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom dropped by TODAY on Friday to make the announcement.

Asked why he thought Bieber and Smith’s paternal-like photo was the most popular, Systrom said:

“People love pictures of people and it seemed like a fun picture, they were having fun.”

The CEO also noted the “Baby” singer’s 12 million plus follower count on the platform. It didn’t hurt that Justin posted the Instagram to his over 47 million-wielding Twitter account after the photo was taken.

Incidentally, the top Instagram hashtags for 2013 included #love, #friends, #fashion, #selfie, #tbt and #food.

Justin counts Will’s son, Jaden, as one of his oldest friends. Jaden guested a rap verse on “Never Say Never,” Bieber’s 2010 track which went on to feature as the theme for The Karate Kid which Jaden starred in that year.

It’s also the title of the Canadian’s singer’s mega-grossing 2011 concert-movie.

Bieber’s ability to rack up Instagram records was seen to great effect back in June, when the teen star’s much talked about first Instagram video was the first to reach one million “Likes” on the then inaugural feature.

Will and Justin’s close relationship was put into focus by Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, in a joint interview with his artist given to The Hollywood Reporter.

Braun revealed Smith counsels Bieber in weekly phone calls and the pair talk about anything and everything, which covers quite a bit considering the headlines the singer has generated this year.

Braun recalled Smith said of Bieber’s explosive 2013 transit,

“Justin’s got to go through it. You can’t stop him from going through it. That’s youth in itself. He’s a young man who’s growing up, and that’s what makes him interesting and relatable. Otherwise, he’d be some kind of weird robot.”

Now, Smith and the Biebs have one more thing to bond over: most popular Instagram image of the year. Hey, it beats being the least.