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X is taking a page out of Bluesky’s playbook. The platform, owned by Elon Musk, is launching a new feature called “Starterpacks”. This directly mirrors Bluesky’s popular curated lists.
Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, announced the update on Wednesday. The feature helps users find accounts that match their interests.
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… pic.twitter.com/MYIIQAaJaL
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) January 21, 2026
However, there is a key difference. Bluesky allows any user to create and share Starter Packs. X has taken a different approach. The company created these lists internally. Bier stated that X “scoured the world for the top posters in every niche and country”. They used internal data to compile these lists over the past several months. They do not rely on individual user recommendations.
Categories on X & Availability
The new lists cover a wide range of categories. These include:
- News
- Politics
- Fashion
- Technology
- Business & Finance
- Health & Fitness
- Gaming
- Stocks
- Memes
Bier confirmed that Starterpacks will roll out to everyone on X in the “coming weeks”.
This concept is not new to the platform. In its early days as Twitter, the app used “Suggested Users Lists”. Early users wanted to find people with shared ideas, not just real-life friends.
That original feature faced controversy. It massively boosted the popularity of listed users. Critics called the system unfair. Consequently, Twitter revamped the lists in 2010 to rely on algorithms instead of editorial selection.
The Competition Heats Up
X is not alone in copying this strategy. Meta’s Threads began testing its own version of Starter Packs in December 2024. Like Bluesky, Threads uses lists curated by individual users. Mastodon is also developing “Packs” to help with user onboarding.
