NY Mets Twitter PR Is Unpolished, But Kind Of What Social Media Is Supposed To Be

A new NY Mets Twitter account — dedicated to the New York metro area’s second most popular baseball team’s PR aspect — has attracted more than 14,000 Twitter users (we did not know there were that many Mets fans) as well as the attention of the New York Times.

The NY Mets Twitter account is run by 67-year-old Jay Horowitz, longtime Mets PR dude tweeting under the handle @Jay_HorwitzPR. Horowitz has been the go-t0 media man for the Mets since 1980, and is just now embracing the newer platform to interact with fans of the team — quite authentically and honestly.

Both New York teams have “official” Twitter accounts, with the Yankees official Twitter page far out stripping the Mets in total number of fan followers — and carrying flashy tweets:

Richard Gere, just hanging out in the #Yankees dugout. No big deal. twitter.com/Yankees/status…

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 2, 2013

The Times did a recent, in-depth profile of the NY Mets Twitter for PR redux, and Horowitz’s initial reticence to embrace the new form of social media, and social PR. But Horowitz said that NY Mets COO Jeff Wilpon had been suggesting it for some time, and adds:

I’m old school, but Jeff has been on me for a long time now to get with the program … I wasn’t quite resisting, but I’m not really mechanical. I didn’t think I could do it. I’m not adept at this type of stuff …when your boss says something to you enough times, you do it.

The paper adds:

Despite his early hesitation, Horwitz has taken Wilpon’s directive and run with it. The quintessential Horwitz post takes a behind-the-scenes Mets story from long ago, wraps it inside a tone of self-deprecation, and blemishes it with at least one glaring typo.

Below are some of the more recent NY Mets Twitter PR account postings — do you like the less promotional, more real feel of Mets tweets?

Met great Mookie Wilson recently turned 57. He still has no idea how he picked up his nickname. One theory is that he mis-pronounced “milk.”

— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) March 1, 2013

Bestto my first manager Joe Torre in the WBC. On my first day in1980 , he bought me 7 really ugly ties. Found out later it was a joke.

— Jay Horwitz (@Jay_HorwitzPR) February 28, 2013