Meta's Threads is developing its own take on Bluesky's “Starter Pack.” The Starter Pack is a curated list of recommended accounts to help new users find people to follow. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announced Thursday that the social network is testing a way to make it easier for users to discover and follow collections of profiles that post about certain popular topics in threads.
The release comes two weeks after TechCrunch reported that Threads was working on the feature.
A collection of suggested profiles will appear when new users sign up for a thread, and will also appear within the app's For You feed. Collections will focus on a variety of topics, including pop culture and recipes.
Threads already helps new users find people to follow on Instagram by linking to the accounts they follow. However, the popularity of Starter Packs on Bluesky may threaten the platform, as Starter Packs allow people to instantly connect with others by joining a growing community. (You can find TechCrunch's starter pack here.)
Image credit: Thread
Meta has been quick to update Threads at a time when many X users have migrated to Bluesky, which recently surpassed 20 million users and is currently approaching 25 million.
For example, Threads recently rolled out custom feeds, allowing users to curate feeds around specific topics or specific user profiles. We've also started testing options that allow users to choose “For You,” “Following,” or a custom feed as their default. Additionally, in response to complaints from users who wanted to see less content from people they don't follow, we introduced changes to show more content from people you follow in the app's “For You” algorithm feed.
The social network has been working on adding new features based on user feedback. This is likely to stop users from migrating to Bluesky, which is catching up to Threads in terms of daily active users.
Bluesky's user base surged after the US presidential election, as X took a more right-wing stance and Musk used the social network to campaign for President-elect Donald Trump.