“#ClapbackSeason!” announces a post from Instagram account ShadeRoom. “#ChrisBrown babymomma #Nia had enough with y'all!” This might not mean much to you, but if you’re following the pop star’s love triangle on the app’s biggest gossip account, it’s invaluable information.

In a society that favours individualism – where we all have so many thoughts to think, so many words to say – Twitter’s 140 character count can feel restrictive. So it's hardly surprising that the generation with an answer for everything has found a way to hack the Twittersphere.

Online platform Imgur is rapidly evolving from a simple image host to a huge and highly sociable user community – and brands are taking notice. But how will Imgurians respond to brands engaging with them on their own turf?

Internet memes were once relegated to the depths of 4chan and Reddit. As memetic content surfaces in the mainstream, brands are looking to incorporate memes into their own ads. But can the spontaneous, bottom-up spirit that makes them so potent really be bottled and sold?

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?

According to research, goldfish now officially have longer attention spans than humans. But is it really that simple? Canvas8 sits down with Faris Yakob, author ofPaid Attention: Innovative Advertising for a Digital Worldto discuss how human attention is changing and why it’s so important.

Raised online, Gens Y and Z expertly craft virtual identities that reflect and enhance their offline lives. And increasingly, friends – or ‘squads’ – are a part of that image. As the hashtag of the moment, what does #squadgoals say about the way digital natives form and maintain friendships?

Whether you're a woman eating on the Tube, or a sleeping commuter, the combination of social media and smartphones mean that no public space is safe to do anything you wouldn't want caught on camera. Is it just a bit of harmless fun, or something a little more sinister?