In an age full of social media and various forms of online communication, there is perhaps no one more proficient than Bryan Schwartz, Stamford High School student by day, and Twitter tycoon by night.  Schwartz, in essence, is the quintessential Twitter user, taking full advantage of social media.  By creating a New York Mets fan account with a solid fan base, he has been able to develop countless connections and relationships in a field that he is passionate about.

Schwartz’s first development in the impersonal communication sector was the construction of a fan account named, “Mets Fan Problems.”  Due to the almost laughable lack of success of the Mets over recent years, this account was intended for Mets fans to unite and share jokes about the team.  Schwartz’ account became an instant hit, accumulating hundreds of followers.  It was then that Schwartz realized the potential of his newfound Twitter popularity.

In May 2013, Schwartz converted the account to become a source for everything Mets, ranging from live game tweets to behind the scenes insight.  He renamed the account “Amazin’ Army” and decided to tweet from a much more serious prospective.  This account is Schwartz’s “pride and glory,” as he has accumulated over 6,700 followers to date.  Schwartz said, “Once I reached one-thousand followers, I realized the immense potential of my account.  I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I can really grow this.’”

What Schwartz didn’t realize, however, was the impact he was creating on the Mets fan community.  Followed by the likes of Toronto Blue Jays all-star outfielder Jose Bautista, Mets Public Relations director Jay Horwitz, and Mets breakout pitcher Vic Black, Schwartz has developed a loyal fan base.   In fact, in the August edition of the Mets baseball program, 2014 National League Rookie of the Year Jacob DeGrom mentioned “Amazin’ Army” as one of his favorite twitter accounts to follow.  Sharing the victories and failures of the Mets, Schwartz has fostered a community for fans to communicate with each other.

In February 2014, MLB Network organized its annual “Face of the MLB” contest, which is a bracket style competition where two stars on different teams compete in popularity on Twitter.  The player with the most tweets using the proper hashtags advanced.  Schwartz was instrumental in Mets Captain David Wright’s victory, getting as many as 700 retweets on a single tweet.  When asked about the benefit of this contest for the popularity of the “Amazin’ Army” Twitter account, he said, “That really helped me grow the account.  It was a chance to get one of my favorite players to win something that showed that the fans are truly committed.  It just goes to show how committed Mets fans are.  I got a ton of retweets.  What was most rewarding was when the Mets organization recognized us later in the year at a game against the Reds.  My account was featured on the jumbotron at Citi Field, which was pretty cool.”

The popularity of the Twitter account has created new opportunities for Schwartz that he would not have been able to receive without it.  In September 2014, Schwartz was asked to write for Vavel USA, part of an international sports online newspaper that is most prominent in Europe.  The Vavel executives reached out to Schwartz in hopes that he could potentially grow the Vavel community in America through his articles.  Only a few months later, in February, Schwartz was sought after by an organization called Baseball Essential, which is an affiliate of Fox Sports.  Schwartz consistently writes articles for both sites, and hopes that they will eventually lead him to a profession in sports journalism.  He said, “It’s a good start to my journalism career.  It’s always beneficial to connect with other journalists and sports writers.”  Schwartz recognizes that as his Twitter account grows, he will develop more and more connections with organizations who are successful in the sports journalism world.

You can check Schwartz out on:

Twitter @we_are_met_fans

Vavel at http://www.vavel.com/bryan-schwartz

Baseball Essential at http://www.baseballessential.com/news/author/bryans/

And of course, right here at shsroundtable.com