Turning a serious sporting award into a popularity contest was never a good use of social technology.

Two weeks ago I wrote about the Cricket Live Australia app, which lets Aussies follow the cricket scores and even voice their opinion on controversial umpiring decisions. What I didn’t touch on was that the app also let viewers vote for Man of the Match - an award previously bestowed by cricketing experts rather than the general public. As if this wasn’t foolish enough, voting was only open to Australians.

You didn’t need to be a social media expert to predict what would happen - Australians voted overwhelmingly for their man David Warner in the Second Test, who scored an unbeaten 123 in a side which was thumped by New Zealand. Bracewell's impressive 9-60 with the ball was naturally overlooked due to the fact the Kiwis couldn’t vote. Such a system makes a mockery of the Man of the Match award, particularly when there are prizes involved.

Just because new technology lets us turn every decision into a popularity contest doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Surely someone at Cricket Australia should have seen this coming. To Cricket Australia’s credit it didn’t try to fix the problem by extending voting rights across the Tasman, perhaps realising how badly this would backfire when Australia plays India - a team backed by more than a billion fans. Instead Cricket Australia decided to revert to the old system for awarding Man of the Match but retain the Viewers’ Verdict as a separate award. It’s a good lesson not only in how not to use social media, but also in how to respond when it’s clear you’ve screwed up.

On that note, it’s time for Hydrapinion to take a break until mid-January. See you in 2012.