But first, let me take a selfie

Self-indulgence or self-expression – selfies divide the nation,

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There's no escaping them: everyday our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds are bombarded by close-ups.

Miley, Kim K and Beyoncé are the selfie queens but it's not just celebs getting in on the act: Brits take 35 million selfies a month.

I'm one of them.

And they aren't just an exercise in vanity. Earlier this year, bare-faced British women posted their selfies to help raise awareness of Cancer Research UK, resulting in an unprecedented increase in donations.

However, I didn't take part. I can actually find only one make-up free selfie of me, which was taken at a spa, but with an orange-hued filter – I might as well have been wearing make-up.

In fact, in the vast majority of my selfies I'm plastered in make-up – they are taken on nights out with friends. It's all very reminiscent of the sickeningly shallow #Selfie song #ooops.

But looking back at the photos now, I can't help smiling at the happiness captured on our faces.

My friends are a huge part of my life and these snippets of our nocturnal antics are memories I treasure.

There are also pictures of my family: there's one called 'Mother, daughter and doggy #selfie #hilarious'. I certainly thought so. I remember laughing hysterically as my mum and I tried first to coax, then to wrestle, her springer spaniel Stanley into posing with us. Even my brother Geoff got in on the act, posting the comment: "Stanley looks embarrassed."

I've also used selfies to express moments when I'm not so happy – notably a covert snap taken from under the desk at a Telford & Wrekin Council planning meeting that went on for four hours. #sadselfie.

Proud moments have been captured too, such as the one in my running gear ahead of the Great Georgia Park Run in Telford Town Park.

This was a significant milestone for me as I'm rarely seen in trousers let alone sportswear. But the 17-year-old's story moved me (off the sofa) and I've been running ever since.

And there are some silly ones too – puckering up to a dead trout; in a T-shirt emblazoned with the word #SELFIE; in fancy dress as Lady Gaga.

It could be worse though. I've got a friend – you know who you are – who'll sit at a table in a restaurant posing until they get the perfect selfie.

This is the same friend who grabs my phone and deletes unflattering pictures of themselves to stop them being leaked on to social media. Heaven forbid!

I can see why some people are sick of the selfie if their feeds are inundated with endless pictures of the same person. But as long as you don't overdo it, or take it too seriously, I think selfies are a fun way to capture the moment.

If you're a selfie beginner, here are my golden rules to get you up to speed in no time.

Rule #1: There's a time and a place. Ellen De Generes' star-studded selfie at the Oscars is the perfect example of right time, right place. Barack Obama's photo faux pas – snapping a selfie during Nelson Mandela's memorial service with David Cameron and Helle Thorning-Schmidt was the exact opposite #awkward.

Rule #2: Enlist some friends. It's good fun to involve your friends and who knows where your pal-packed selfies will lead? You could use your selfie obsession to make a hit: New York DJs The Chainsmokers made it into the charts with #SELFIE.

Rule #3: Don't annoy people. There's a temptation to take selfies constantly, and it's not just stars and girls in nightclubs who take them: more than half of Brits admit to having taken one, including 29 per cent of the over 65s. #Silverselfies?

Rule #4: Don't over do it. Scrolling through my twitter-feed, I could be in danger of doing this. I've even professed to being an expert in selfies composition. #Oops!

Resist the temptation to take them every day.

The Oxford English Dictionary even has a definition of a selfie: "A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website."

It adds: "Occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself every day isn't necessary."

Enough said.

Rule #5: HAVE FUN.

'Admit it, everyone likes to look nice'

You know what I hate? Passive aggressive social media updates from people criticising other people's selfies, writes Kirsty Bosley.

OK, so that was passive aggressive, but it's something that really gets my gander up.

Admit it, everyone likes to look nice. Most of us wake up and put our slap on, put products in our hair or otherwise get ourselves looking 'good' or 'presentable' or any of those other terms we use to show that we're feeling OK with how we look on any given day.

In a world in which we share so much of ourselves online, it makes complete and utter sense that we'd be OK sharing pictures of ourselves looking our own estimation of 'nice'.

If you're going to share a photo of your dinner, then surely it's OK to share a photo of yourself once you've spent two hours curling your hair? Or maybe you spend 98 per cent of your life covered in baby sick in your comfy trousers, or in your dusty work's hi-vis vest, but you're off out with your pals and you're on top form. Why not show the world you scrub up well?

We all feel the pressure to look good. In the news, on billboards and even the mannequins the clothes we buy are posed on, are trim and perfect. Dating apps like Tinder have singletons judged on how they look on a cut-throat platform in which one swipe of the thumb has them written off entirely. And this is based on one photo. Can you blame us for wanting to celebrate those good selfies?

Behind every selfie, is a person with the same insecurities, hang-ups and worries as everyone else. If that person thinks their beautician nailed their eyebrows this month, or their beard is looking dapper, celebrate their confidence and happiness, rather than criticising it in a passive aggressive update into cyberspace.

Tips for the perfect selfie:

• Background – Choose a landmark

• Angle – The right angle can make a double chin or eye bag vanish

• Filter – Experiment with colours to create different effects

• Friends – Enlist some partners in crime – the more the merrier

• Frequency – Don’t overdo it - you’ll annoy people

• Photobomb – See if you can get into the background of a stranger’s selfies

• Caption – Say what’s on your mind

• Share – Post to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat