Doing it for the 'gram: Canberra at its Insta-best

The official tourism account for Canberra, along with its hashtag #visitcanberra, attracted more than 80,000 images this year - and the top 10 most-liked photos featured by the account were taken by local Instagrammers.

Many of the entries masterfully distilled the essence of the national capital, including this moody photograph of Kings Avenue Bridge by local Tony Croke.

The image, posted by Tony under the handle @cecil1958, attracted more than 4000 likes and more than 100 comments.

With the silhouette of the Australian-American Memorial The Eagle in the background, the brooding image had people making references to Batman, Blade Runner or Lord of the Rings and the Canberra-based political thriller Secret City.

The image has held the number one spot as VisitCanberra’s most-liked image of all time since it was shared in July.

And then there was the platypus.

The rare sight of a platypus swimming close to shore in Lake Burley Griffin delighted many, with @liam.cbr’s video becoming VisitCanberra’s most-commented Instagram of all time.

It's had more than 17,000 views and comments such as "My fav....could watch this video forever" by @catedavo.

"Canberra’s reputation as a city rich in bushland experiences showed through in the most-liked images for 2018, ranging from @mattclicks’ kangaroo, who was likely oblivious to the Canberra Balloon Spectacular occurring behind him, to @shawstu’s capture of a busy summer eve around Regatta Point, featuring a back-flipping member of the public in the background. The vivid colours of Canberra’s autumn trees featured twice in the top 10, as photographed by @carolelvin and @glenn_photographer," VisitCanberra said.

Retired teacher Carole Elvin, from Yarralumla, is no stranger to creating shareable shots, which are also extremely popular on social media for Tourism Australia.

Some of Carole's stunning images have even been reproduced as jigsaw puzzles by Australian company The Jigsaw Company.

When it comes to the most-commented images shared by VisitCanberra, unique experiences and exciting news took the cake. Space Kitchen’s magical creation, the ‘Unicorn Waffle’, had many users commenting about who they would take to enjoy the legendary treat.

A visit to the Cupping Room from the cast of Queer Eye also excited social media followers.

And the new addition to the National Gallery of Australia’s permanent collection, YayoiKusama's Infinity Room, also had people eager to take their own perfect shot.

VisitCanberra picked up more than 10,000 new fans on Instagram, growing from about 42,000 followers to more than 52,000 followers. And visitors and locals continue to share hundreds of images a day of the nation’s capital using the hashtag.

VisitCanberra director Jonathan Kobus said social media was "a crucial part of the promotional marketing mix".

"People love user-generated content and what better way than having locals share their hidden gems and best photography spots with others?" he said.

"Social media is the new word of mouth. Often we see interstate users tagging their Canberra friends in the comments with their plans to eat at a new cafe we’ve promoted or visit an exhibition we’ve shown – it’s just word of mouth with a greater reach."

@VisitCanberra’s 10 most-engaging Instagram posts for 2018: