With over 100 hours of video footage uploaded to YouTube every minute, and over 6 billion hours of video watched and discussed on the site each month, it's a thriving community. Now, Google has brought fan funding to YouTube in the form of a Tip Jar function.

One in three teens claim they could make money by creating YouTube videos. The success of social media stars like Bethany Mota shows that celebrity endorsements aren't influential as they used to be. Today's teens want inspiration from cool kids who could easily be their mates.

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.