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Manchester City made Twitter history at the weekend when it asked its followers to vote for man of the match after its fixture against Aston Villa.

Followers of Manchester City FC, or @MCFC as it is known, could cast their vote by posting a hashtag (#) followed by their chosen player's surname and squad number. Manchester City's digital team then totted up the votes and player Mario Balotelli (#Balotelli45) was crowned man of the match at the team's Etihad stadium on Saturday.

Manchester City FC is considered one of the sporting world's most active social media users. It has more than 121,000 followers and has sent well over 15,000 tweets. Research conducted by Lewis Communications last week showed the team ranking  fourth overall in terms of social media reach behind Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Alex Clough, digital strategist at Lewis Communications, and one of those behind last week's research, thinks the team punches well above its weight: 'Manchester City is one of the best examples of how football clubs can use social media to engage with a fan base, the club isn't afraid to experiment with social media,' he said.

'Lots of clubs tweet the man of the match when it's announced, but Manchester City is the first I've seen open up the decision making process to the community. It's a move that took little effort, but gave fans both in the stadium and at home a way of being directly involved in the game.'

But the practice of tweeting the man of the match is not without its pitfalls. Disgruntled Arsenal fans were none too impressed after the club announced man of the match on Twitter after the Gunners were beaten 4-3 by Blackburn last month.

One Arsenal fan wrote: 'Please drop this man of the match/player of the month nonsense till further notice. At least till we have some eligible candidates.'

'After losing to a team that was bottom of the table no one deserves a man of the match award,' tweeted another.

By contrast, Manchester City's win took them to the top of the Premier league, making fans well-disposed towards the team.

City has invested heavily in its digital strategy. It announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with YouTube last week for any Premier League club. The deal will enable the club to control their rights-owned or club-created videos on YouTube, which receives more than three billion views per day worldwide. In addition, City will also be able to manage the advertising around its content, which is uploaded on to the site every day.

'The club's partnership with YouTube  will no doubt prompt a wave of similar partnerships over the next year as clubs produce more interesting content and try to control how it's presented online. It will no doubt make the club even more attractive to existing and potential sponsors as the space around the videos becomes a great source of additional exposure for brands,' Clough concludes.

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