Britney Spears has said she finds it difficult to want to share parts of her life on social media because “people say the meanest things”.

The pop music star gave her 23.2 million Instagram followers a glimpse of her lavishly-decorated Christmas tree with a short video, but explained that doing so was a bit of a challenge.

Spears, 38, wrote: “Happy holidays friends !!!! I love sharing with you all … but it’s been hard to keep wanting to share because people say the meanest things !!!

“If you don’t like a post … just keep it to yourself and unfollow that person !!!”

Using crying-face emojis, she added: “There’s no reason to ever go out of your way to make mean comments and bully people.

“Stay happy and nice this holiday season y’all and God Bless !!!!!”

Spears’ boyfriend, personal trainer Sam Asghari, replied: “It’s so easy to cyber attack and hide behind their phones and write mean comments, but when they run into you in real life all of the sudden they act like they have been such a huge fan and want a picture #haterplease.”

Her post was viewed more than a million times in the space of a few hours, with many fans writing to agree in the comments.

In the video, backed by Michael Buble’s version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, the Toxic singer pulled a series of fun poses and faces as she showed off her festive decorations.