3 accounts. 2.2 million followers. 1 club. 1 (and another) man.
Samuel Jordan has been running the Palace social media accounts for 3 and a half years now (he joined the same day Palace beat City 2-1 at Selhurst), and I chatted to him about the highs, the lows and the life of a media man.
*DISCLAIMER: I didn’t ask what his favourite season was because I already knew the answer: 2016/17. The season this guru was the mind behind the Snapchat.*
Tell us about your background.
I studied Journalism at the University of Portsmouth for three years and graduated with a 2:2 (only a 2:2!). I graduated and went back to working as a bin man, then applied for an internship at Squawka at the start of the 2014/15 season. At Squawka I wrote football news and analysis pieces, and first dipped my toe into the world of professional Social Media…
How did you get your job at Palace?
Is running a social media account as easy as some people think?
It can be easy. When we’re winning every piece of content performs better and the ‘mood’ online is more engaging and friendly. When we lose… It can be fairly horrific.
Did it take you long to adjust to being around players from the team you support on a regular basis?
It was a lot easier than I probably expected. Before I started I was very excited, but you’re thrown straight in at the deep end with regards to asking players for interviews, bumping into them on the stairs, that there was never any danger of me getting a bit carried away.
What’s been the proudest moment of your career so far?
The Theresa May / Palace tweet (“Nothing’s official until the club confirm it.”) and the dig at Leicester after we beat them 3-0 away. Occasionally stuff like that will make the national media and it’s a laugh having friends and family send me articles like “was this you?”
How hard is it to stay neutral on the account?
To be honest, I don’t have to be neutral all the time. Occasionally we’ll purposely identify a contentious subject / current talking point and address it with a piece of content, i.e. we interviewed Wilfried Zaha about diving and hating Brighton before we played them at the end of last season. It got all Palace fans onside defending him (because he’s not a diver) and riled Brighton up enough to come and roll over at Selhurst the following week (haha).
Talk Crystal Palace 