• by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, February 26, 2019

The wisdom of the crowd is not quite aligned with that of the Oscar judges. That's the takeaway from figures Mediapost has requested from Kantar Media over the Oscar weekend, up until 9am Monday UK time.

The big names and the winner are all present on the podium of social and blogger mentions, in every one of the top four awards. The thing is, the judges tended to go for different winners, swapping out social's top spot for one of its silver or bronze medal positions.

Only on one occasion did both judges and social media agree on a winner -- Rami Malek for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury. 

Although it is the exception to the rule, it also neatly sums up the issue. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the clear winner on social, according to Kantar Media, with Black Panther in second place and the actual winner, Green Book, in third spot. Social wanted to make it a double for the movie, but it was not to be.

It was a similar situation for Olivia Colman, the big British success story of the night. Social media was rooting for Lady Gaga, with Olivia in second place and Glenn Close in third.

However, despite the social weight behind Lady Gaga's "Little Green Monsters," it was Colman who triumphed and caused the biggest spike in social activity in the UK across the entire weekend. 

So that's another surprise, other than the hotly tipped Glenn Close not taking the Best Actress award.

The biggest surge in UK activity came with Olivia Colman flying the flag for Britain, not Lady Gaga singing her duet beautifully (she won Best Original Song), not Spike Lee's surprise at the Best Picture winner and not Billy Porter swapping "Kinky Boots' for a dress, nor any other story to emerge from the red carpet. 

Let's remember that Olivia Colman lifted her award at just after 4am UK time, proving that a diehard group of fans must have waited up to make "The Favourite" star a social buzz winner, although I'm sure the Oscar will mean a lot more to her career. 

Those fans must have been particularly dedicated, because Kantar Media suggests the number of tweets and all-round Twitter action was around half of that seen the year before. It suggests controversy over the host stepping down may have been one reason why the event wasn't as popular this year.

A dip in interest aside, the takeaway is that the wisdom of the crowds is not necessarily the wisdom of the judges, then.

All agreed on a winner being in their top three but in only one occasion -- with Rami Malek -- were social buzz and the judges aligned. 

For many, this will underscore the point that success on social is not indicative of real-life success. If anyone ever needs a story about real life winning out over buzz, it surely has to be a British actress with 5,800 followers overcoming a tidal wave of social mentions from an American pop and movie star's vociferous 78m followers.

Buzz is nice. A shiny award that means you will never be out of work again is rather nicer.