Crowned 'word of the year' by Oxford Dictionaries in 2013, the selfie has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a niche social media tag. But are selfies just a bit of harmless narcissistic fun, or is there a darker side?

Despite its collectivist traditions, Japan is seeing a rise of individuals who are actively rejecting the company of others. And from one-person karaoke boxes to solo restaurant booths, businesses are adapting to this unconventional customer.

With social media opening up million of little windows into the lives of others, reality TV expanding into new frontiers like space travel, and people growing savvier about what's real and what's not – what does the future of reality culture hold?

The way teens create identity is changing. With more tools to express themselves, access to a world of information and subcultures that bloom and wither in a matter of days, affiliation to traditional tribes has become less important.