Kylie Jenner becomes first woman with 300 million Instagram followers

Make-up mogul Kylie Jenner has become the first woman to reach 300 million followers on Instagram.

Ariana Grande, previously the app's most popular woman, is now tied in second place with Selena Gomez. The singers have 289 million each.

But Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo remains Instagram's most followed person, now with more than 388 million followers.

Jenner has been relatively quiet on the image-sharing platform recently.

Her partner, rapper Travis Scott, was performing at the Astroworld music festival, in Houston, Texas, on 5 November, when 10 people died during a stampede of fans

And Jenner, who is pregnant with their second child, only broke her social-media silence on Christmas Eve, sharing a photo of her mother, Kris Jenner.

The following week, she posted about the "blessings" and "heartaches" she had experienced in 2021.

Created in 2010, by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, Instagram - bought by Facebook in 2012, for $1bn (£0.7bn) - now has 1.3 billion users.

Every day, 500 million people use the app

Its official account, @Instagram, which showcases its favourite photographs from creators around the world, has the most followers, more than 460 million

Next up is Ronaldo, the first person to reach 200 million followers.

Fellow footballer Lionel Messi has also broken the 300 million milestone.

Other accounts in the top 10 belong to former wrestler The Rock, reality-TV personality Kim Kardashian and singers Beyoncé and Justin Bieber.

As Instagram has grown in popularity, it has faced criticism about its responsibility for harmful online content.

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen called it "more dangerous than other forms of social media", after it was revealed the company's own research showed it could be harmful.

At the time, Instagram said the research showed its "commitment to understanding complex and difficult issues".