X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, plans to introduce a new feature designed to help users discover accounts aligned with their interests, following the popularity of similar tools on rival platforms such as Bluesky.
The feature, called “Starterpacks,” was announced on Wednesday by X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, in a post on the platform. It will present curated lists of suggested accounts across categories including news, politics, fashion, technology, business and finance, gaming and health, among others.
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Unlike Bluesky’s Starter Packs, which can be created and shared by any user, X’s lists have been compiled internally using the company’s own data. Bier said the company “scoured the world for the top posters in every niche and country” over several months to build the collections, rather than relying on user recommendations.
Bier said the Starterpacks feature will be rolled out to all users globally in the “coming weeks.” X has not provided further details on how the lists will be displayed or updated once the feature is live.
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Suggested user lists are not new to X, which previously used similar tools during its time as Twitter to help new users find accounts to follow based on interests. Those early lists proved controversial for concentrating attention and followers on a small number of accounts, prompting a shift toward algorithm-driven recommendations. Other platforms, including Meta’s Threads and the decentralised network Mastodon, have also recently adopted comparable onboarding features inspired by Bluesky’s approach.
Source: TechCrunch