There's no denying that 2013 has been the year of the selfie. It reached new formats (belflies, healthies and holiday-envy-inducing selfies all entered our social media lexicon this year) and was even added to the dictionary.
But when Barack Obama was caught posing at Nelson Mandela's memorial service with our Prime Minister David Cameron and Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt, a social media sh**-storm ensued. The public was divided - was it highly inappropriate to be posing at an event mourning one of the most important figures in world history? Or, like the photographer who caught them, did it chime in perfectly with the "totally relaxed" and "carnival atmosphere" of the ceremony?
Whatever your opinion on the impact/significance of the photo, it was certainly not what the world expected to see at the Mandela memorial - and Obama wasn't the only celebrity taking unexpected snaps on social networking sites this year. We run down the most surprising selfies to emerge in 2013.
1. With The Pope
Aside from the above picture a priest took of a mosaic of Pope Francis, the Pope himself decided to pose for an actual selfie at the Vatican in August. He's on twitter anyway, so maybe we shouldn't be so surprised.
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2. At A Press Conference
What do you do if you're a Brit actor, you're starring in teen fantasy movie The Mortal Instruments, and you're completely bored of all the inane questions asked by journalists on your publicity tour? You goof off by taking selfies.
3. At A Baseball Game
Fox Sports reporter Kelly Nash thought she'd take a selfie on the job at Boston's Fenway Park stadium during a baseball game - and narrowly missed a serious face injury thanks to a photobombing baseball.
4. From Space
NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy took this snap whilst he was working at the International Space Station using a digital still camera.
5. At A Presidential Inauguration
Like father, like daughters. At Obama's second presidential inauguration, Sasha and Malia posed for a selfie and both displayed an impressive knowledge of the duck face.
6. Scantily-Clad, On A Morning Show TV Set
Miley loves a selfie - so when her daughter appeared on The Today Show, mother Letitia Cyrus decided to take a cheeky snap - and to include her daughter, bum-skimming cut-offs and all.
7. At The Wimbledon Final
Famous faces in the Wimbledon crowd aren't unusual - Hollywood A-Listers taking selfies whilst one of the most historic matches in the tennis tournament's history unfolds, is. Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler's moment together was caught on camera and almost distracted from the epic Murray win.
8. With Meryl Streep/Hillary Clinton
New celeb BFFs often mark their friendship with an initial post to Instagram - but this didn't-see-it-coming shot of Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is probably one of our all-time favourites.
9. On The White House Lawn
You've got to love the Obamas for their willingness to embrace social media - here's Michelle frolicking on the White House Lawn with their pet dog, Bo.
10. At The Mandela Memorial
We've covered this ground already but yeah, the whole world didn't see that one coming...
