Social media site X has said that it will soon add its own “Starterpacks” feature. This tool will help users quickly find and follow accounts that are similar to what they like.
TechCrunch says that this new feature is another step in the ongoing evolution of curated user discovery. It is based on a well-known system that works in a similar way on the decentralized network Bluesky.
Starterpacks on X group accounts by interest. Head of product at X Nikita Bier said the Starterpacks help people cut through the noise and connect with the best voices in news, politics, technology, business, gaming, and memes. Data analysis to find the top posters in different countries and topics took months, according to the company.
The platform used “Suggested User” lists to find new users when it was Twitter. However, the new Starterpacks are more organized and category-based. The feature will be available to all X users worldwide in a few weeks.
How X’s Starterpacks differ from the Bluesky Original
Bluesky came up with the name and idea for the Starterpacks feature, but X’s version is very different. Anyone can make and share their own carefully chosen starter packs with Bluesky.
Because of this, people are more likely to tell each other about products they like. On the other hand, X’s starter packs are only made by people who work for the company and use data from the platform and top performers.
Other platforms are adding similar features by using this centralized, editorial-style curation. For example, in late 2024, Meta’s Threads started testing lists made by users.
Mastodon, a decentralized network, has also been working on its own “Packs” feature. The Starterpacks from X show that the industry is still working to make the first user experience better and make it easier to find useful content on social networks.
