Khaberni - Amidst the intensifying competition between social media platforms to attract and retain users, the Elon Musk-owned "X" platform revisits an old idea by introducing it in a new format.
An attempt to reorganize the following experience, after platforms like "Bluesky" and "Threads" had previously taken similar steps.
The platform recently announced the launch of a new feature called Starterpacks, aimed at facilitating the discovery of suitable accounts and directing users - especially new ones - towards content that aligns with their interests.
According to Nikita Per, Head of Product at "X", in an official post, the platform is preparing to introduce curated follow lists that include carefully selected accounts across various fields, including news, politics, fashion, technology, business and finance, health and fitness, gaming, stocks, memes, and more.
Per explained that these lists will be gradually made available to users in the coming weeks, as part of the platform's effort to enhance the usage experience from the very first moments of joining.
A fundamental difference from the Bluesky experience
Unlike the Starter Packs feature on the "Bluesky" platform, which allows any user to create lists and share them with others, "X" has chosen a different path, relying on lists prepared internally by its teams, based on data from the platform itself, and not user recommendations.
According to a report by TechCrunch, Nikita Per confirmed that the "X" work teams have spent the past months "combing the world" to select the most prominent accounts in various specialties and countries, with the aim of providing ready-made lists that help users discover reliable and specialized content.
Although the feature is presented as a new development, the proposed lists are not new to "X", as they trace back to the early years of "Twitter", when the platform relied on editorial lists to guide users towards specific accounts.
However, these lists sparked widespread controversy back then, after they contributed to amplifying the popularity of some accounts over others, which led "Twitter" in 2010 to abandon them and later move to a system that relies more on algorithms.
"X" is not the only platform that has revived this idea, as "Threads" from Meta began testing a similar feature in December 2024, which relies on lists created by the users themselves.
Mastodon, a decentralized network, is also working on developing a feature called Packs, aimed at facilitating the joining of new users and organizing the following process from the beginning, according to a TechCrunch report.
