X is rolling out Starterpacks, curated lists designed to help new and returning users quickly find accounts to follow. The feature closely resembles Bluesky’s popular Starter Packs, which have become a go-to discovery tool on that network. X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, said the company compiled the lists internally to surface standout voices across interests and regions.
Starterpacks will span categories such as News, Politics, Fashion, Technology, Business and Finance, Health and Fitness, Gaming, Stocks, and Memes, among others. The goal is straightforward discovery with fewer taps, giving people a ready-made starting graph rather than an empty timeline.
What Starterpacks Do and How They Help New Users
When users browse a category, they will see a curated set of accounts that can be followed in one go, accelerating the early days of feed personalization. X says it identified leading posters by niche and country, relying on its own engagement and quality signals rather than external submissions.
That approach diverges from Bluesky, where anyone can create and share a Starter Pack that functions like a portable recommendation card. X’s version is centralized and company-run, which could ensure consistent quality control but may sacrifice the community-driven curation that has helped Bluesky’s lists feel organic and trustworthy.
Why This Matters for Onboarding and User Retention
Social platforms rise or fall on how fast newcomers build a meaningful home feed. Industry benchmarks often track activation moments like following a threshold number of accounts or engaging with a first post, because those milestones correlate with higher day-7 and day-30 retention. Research into social bootstrapping from academic labs and practitioner reports alike has shown that reducing time-to-value keeps more users around.
X has been here before. In the Twitter era, a Suggested Users List gave handpicked accounts a significant boost, then sparked controversy over perceived favoritism. By 2010 the company shifted toward algorithmic suggestions to make the process more defensible and scalable, a change widely covered by major media at the time. Starterpacks revive the idea of editorially shaped discovery, but with a more explicit topical approach.
The broader trend is clear. Platforms from LinkedIn to TikTok lean on recommendation systems and curated lists to jumpstart engagement for cold-start users. A good follow graph on day one increases the odds that people see timely, relevant posts before they decide to churn.
Copycat or Convergence in Social Onboarding Tools
Bluesky’s Starter Packs have been a breakout hit because they make expertise portable. Influencers, journalists, and community organizers can publish themed bundles that others can adopt instantly, distributing taste-making power across the network. Meta’s Threads has already tested user-made Starter Packs, underscoring how quickly this concept is spreading across social apps.
Mastodon has also explored onboarding Packs as part of its community-led approach. The common thread is a recognition that search alone is not enough. People want opinionated, trustworthy guides that give them a sense of the culture they are joining.
Editorial Picks Versus Algorithmic Lists
Who gets included in a Starterpack will matter. Placement can translate into outsized visibility, new followers, and downstream monetization opportunities. In the Twitter Suggested Users era, inclusion often produced dramatic follower spikes, which intensified scrutiny of how names were chosen and rotated.
For X’s approach to escape that history, the company will need to be transparent about criteria, refresh cadence, and recourse for creators who feel overlooked. Geographic balance, multilingual support, and topic diversity will be key, especially in categories like Politics and News where perceptions of bias travel fast.
What to Watch Next as X Tests and Rolls Out Packs
Expect measured rollouts and A/B tests as X tunes how many accounts appear per pack, how packs are ordered, and where they surface in the app. Signals to watch include follow conversion rates after viewing a pack, improvements in day-7 retention among new sign-ups, and sentiment from creators about fairness and inclusion.
If Starterpacks deliver, X could integrate them more deeply into search, onboarding flows, and the For You feed, with localized editions for major markets. The open question is whether X will eventually allow user-created packs, blending its centralized picks with community curation in a way that captures Bluesky’s virality without losing editorial guardrails.
