‘Feelgood’ feeds that can leave you feeling bad

PACKED with glamorous snaps of preening celebs, Instagram has become a global sensation since its launch less than 11 years ago.

Co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger had almost 30 million users by the time they sold it to Facebook for £725million in 2012.

It is now estimated to have more than a billion signed up worldwide.

Top profiles include Juventus footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, with

276 million followers, and reality TV star Kylie Jenner, with 225.8 million.

The platform also sparked the “influencer” culture, enabling users with huge followings to command massive fees to promote products, companies or events on their feed.

In 2016, Instagram cracked down on celebrities posting without telling followers they have been paid to do so after the Competition and Markets Authority found owner

Facebook was doing too little to tackle the issue of “hidden advertising”. Now, influencers must clearly state if they have been paid or received any gifts or loans of products when making posts, so as not to mislead followers.

In recent years the app has also come under fire from mental health campaigners.

Critics say Instagram pushes “unrealistic ideals”, arguing that feeds full of filtered and “picture perfect” images can be damaging for those viewing them – particularly among younger users.

A host of celebrities – including reality stars Khloe Kardashian and Katie Price and singers Jesy Nelson and Sam Smith – have previously spoken out about the abuse they received from trolls on the app.

This week, Instagram apologised after its search suggestions algorithm promoted diet content to users with eating disorders.

The search function in the app automatically recommended terms including “appetite suppressants” and “fasting” to some people.

BIG HITTER Kylie Jenner