The problem with getting started on any social network is the first hurdle of establishing connection to people and businesses. X is aware of this as it tries to encourage new users, and to make things easier it has decided to borrow an idea from Bluesky.
The X rival has offered Starter Packs for a little while now – specially curated lists of accounts to follow based on your interests. Now X has introduced its own version of the same feature and called it… Starterpacks.
It is not just the names which are similar. Seemingly not inspired enough to do anything other than pull a space out of the name Starter Packs, with Starterpaks X is offering something that is virtually identical to Bluesky.
Head of product at X, Nikita Bier, says:
Over the last few months, we scoured the world for the top posters in every niche & country
We’ve compiled them into a new tool called Starterpacks: to help new users find the best accounts—big or small—for their interests
⬇️ Reply below with a topic you’re most interested in
We’ll be rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks.
There are already hundreds of Starterpacks ready to go, and X plans to have many times more in the not-too-distant future:
Thanks for all the feedback on these. We’ll constantly be refining the packs. We have around 1000 today and we’re hoping to grow it to 3000 in the next few months.
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) January 22, 2026
While there are clearly advantages – for both X and users – in providing these readymade lists of accounts to follow, it is far from being a perfect system. On one hand, it does reduce a potential fraction point by ensuring that new users see some content they are genuinely interested in rather than just a generic feed. On the other, it does run the risk of keep people locked inside a bubble of content of a particular type – although this is not necessarily far removed from typical users behavior anyway.
Predictably, there are already complaints about the nature of the lists that have already been created – one being that there is a strong male focus. It is important to remember that it is early days for Starterpacks, and more will be developed over time, hopefully with a more diverse spread.
