Kang Daniel: The fastest person to a million Instagram followers

  • Published
Kang Daniel and Pope FrancisImage source, Getty Images

What does K-pop star Kang Daniel have in common with The Pope and David Beckham?

They have all been the fastest people to reach a million followers on Instagram at one point, with Kang taking the title this week.

He launched his Instagram, external on New Year's Day and reached the big one million in just 11 hours and 36 minutes.

This beats Pope Francis's record of 12 hours, according to Guinness World Records.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

He may be 82, but Pope Francis sure knows how to smize the house down

The Pope (or probably more accurately, one of his team) started the Vatican's Instagram account, Franciscus, external, in 2016.

David Beckham clawed his way to a million followers after 25 hours in 2015.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Anna Wintour is right there, why not ask her to take it?

Kang now has 1.4 million followers after sharing just seven posts.

This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Instagram
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip instagram post by thisisdaniel_k

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of instagram post by thisisdaniel_k

That's the sort of ratio almost every other Instagram user would swap their filters for.

Kang is a member of Korean boyband Wanna One and has so far posted selfies, rehearsal footage and best of all - a video of his cat.

Wanna One will perform their final ever shows together as an 11-piece at the end of January after nearly two years together and six Top 10 singles in Korea.

This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Instagram
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip instagram post 2 by thisisdaniel_k

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of instagram post 2 by thisisdaniel_k

But while Kang is off to a good start on Instagram, he has a way to go before he's challenging the most followed people on the platform.

Cristiano Ronaldo currently has 150 million following him, external, and the only account to have more followers than him is the official Instagram Instagram., external

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, external, Facebook, external and Twitter, external.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.