The conundrum of reality tv

For most of us when we hear reality TV all we can think of is the latest show like Jersey Shore, or The Real Housewives, or Survivor, all of which are reality TV, but what makes them reality? Is it the fact that they are real people in a real place and time? If that is the case then any show or film is "reality" because the actors are in a real place in a real time. Is it the fact that these people aren't actors but ordinary people being filmed? That poses and interesting complex because once a camera is present, everyone is acting. Everyone puts on a show for "who they truly are" even if they are not conscious of it, especially when a camera is present. If Joe from Survivor was really showing you himself in reality, he wouldn't be running through a jungle completing arbitrary tasks to win a million dollars. So yeah this situation is actually occurring, so yes its real, but does that constitute reality? Or what reality is for most people? For me when i first heard the term "reality TV" i juxtaposed "reality" and "TV" and thought that thus would be simply TV shows that depict reality as it is for most people. Now this would make for some boring subject matter, especially to the modern viewer of entertainment. So it only makes sense that in order to make a show that people will want to watch and thus make money off what you create, one has to film a reality that is a little over the top. Take The Real World, for example. Now given that in real life groups of people are thrown together and have to deal with each other while working together on similar tasks and live with each other. But how often in reality are people chosen for the mere fact that they won't get along with most of the other people, or will cause extra drama. These people get chosen by the creators of the show to make the show interesting to the audience. This is just as fake to me as a filmmaker designing every aspect of a movie, if not even more fake. A filmmaker typically (depending on the person) tries to make the film have a sense of reality, strives to make the movie seems like its a real life event. It may be staged but the end result feeeels real. With The Real World, it feeeels staged. It feels like these people were specifically placed together to cause bullshit and drama. Reality TV to me are shows that attempt to fool the viewer into thinking that this is what life in reality is like and about, and if that is not their initial intent, it sure is the result (especially since its called reality TV). Or Reality TV is shows that use and exploit real people to make money.