any and every modern reality tv "competition" show will and show have a social aspect to it, unless it's like "survivorMan - i'll gut you if you steal my grubs", you need some kind of social aspect, cuz we're a group/social whatever based society. Even in competitive shows like project runway,top model, face off, inked. The judges decide the final winner, BUT in order to reach the finals you had to have at least pass challenges that involve some kind of teamwork/social interaction, or a "work with me or we're both fucked" kind of situation.
of course King of the Nerds season 1 did something stupid with the popularity contest in the final, they let ALL the eliminated contestants vote, who the fuck were the first 3 voted off? no one remembers, hell the first one voted off probably had 5minutes with the eventual final 2 contestants. This is of course probably due to wanting to impose more "suspense" in voting, with more cast members, but it really should just be the previously eliminated 5 voting.