Miss Social by Playboy is a monthly competition to find the newest Miss Social. Contestants compete against each other for votes from Judges and through Weekly Challenges. The Contestant with the most votes at the end of each Monthly Finals is crowned Miss Social and is awarded a trip to Playboy's LA studios for a Playboy photo shoot. At the end of the year, the top four Contestants from each month compete for the title of Miss Social 2012. Anyone (except Contestants) can be a judge. Judges earn votes by actively using the Miss Social site.

Contestants are woman over the age of eighteen who register with Miss Social to compete for the title of Miss Social by Playboy. Contestants compete in Weekly Challenges and for votes from the Judges.

Judges are users who do not compete for the title of Miss Social by Playboy. Judges earn votes and cast them for contestants.

Judges earn votes through a variety of actions. These include logging in, viewing profiles, mentioning Miss Social on Facebook, etc. Judges can also purchase votes. Judges then give their votes to contestants of their choosing.

Weekly Challenges are in-contest challenges for contestants. In a typical month, there are three Weekly Challenges. The winner of each Challenge automatically gets a spot in the Finals.

The Finals take place during the last week of a monthly contest. All contestants votes are reset to zero at the beginning of the Finals and after each round. The Finals format is a head-to-head bracket-tournament-style. The Top 8, plus the three Weekly Challenge winners, and one wild card make the Finals. At the beginning of the Finals, all contestants are seeded according to the number of votes they received. (The contestant with the most votes is #1, the second is #2, and so on.) The rounds go as follows:

First Round: (one day) The top four seeds get a bye. The remaining contestants compete head-to-head to move on to the next round.

Second Round: (two days) The top four seeds and the remaining four contestants compete head-to-head to move on to the next round.

Third Round: (two days) The remaining four contestants compete head-to-head to move on to the next round.

Final Round: (two days) The final two contestants compete head-to-head for the title of Miss Social by Playboy for that month.

The year-end finals take place in February 2013. The top 4 contestants from each month are invited to compete. The winner is crowned Miss Social by Playboy 2012.