Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform, has announced the launch of a groundbreaking new feature called “starter packs,” aimed at enhancing the user onboarding experience and fostering vibrant communities. These personalized invites allow existing users to curate a customized experience for their friends joining the platform, including recommended follows and custom feeds.
What are Starter Packs?
Starter packs are essentially curated bundles of content and connections tailored to specific interests or themes. Users can handpick up to 50 accounts and three custom feeds, showcasing their favorite content creators, thought leaders, and topics of interest. When a new user joins Bluesky via a starter pack, they are presented with these recommendations, streamlining the process of discovering relevant content and building a personalized feed.
Why Starter Packs Matter
- Enhanced Onboarding: For newcomers, navigating a new social platform can be overwhelming. Starter packs provide a curated starting point, introducing users to relevant accounts and communities based on their interests, accelerating their integration into the Bluesky ecosystem.
- Community Building: Starter packs empower users to become ambassadors for their favorite communities and topics. By sharing their starter packs, they can directly invite friends and followers into their “slice of Bluesky,” creating a sense of belonging and fostering deeper connections.
- Custom Feeds: Bluesky’s unique custom feeds feature allows users to create algorithmically generated timelines based on specific interests or themes. Starter packs leverage this functionality by suggesting relevant custom feeds to new users, enabling them to discover niche communities and explore diverse topics.
Creating and Sharing Starter Packs
Creating a starter pack is a breeze. Users can access the “Starter Packs” tab on their profile and either use the auto-generation tool or create their own from scratch. They can add users and feeds to their pack, set a name and description, and share it via a link or QR code.
Impact on the Bluesky Ecosystem
The introduction of starter packs marks a significant milestone in Bluesky’s evolution. It demonstrates the platform’s commitment to user experience and community building. By empowering users to curate their own onboarding journeys, Bluesky is fostering a more personalized and engaging social media experience.
Tech Enthusiasts and Beyond
For tech enthusiasts, starter packs offer an exciting new way to share their passion for emerging technologies, software development, or any other tech-related topic. They can create starter packs tailored to specific interests, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, or cybersecurity, connecting with like-minded individuals and building thriving communities around shared interests.
The Future of Social Onboarding
Starter packs represent a paradigm shift in how users onboard to social media platforms. By prioritizing personalization, community building, and content discovery, Bluesky is paving the way for a more user-centric and engaging social media landscape.
Bluesky Starter Packs: FAQs
A: Starter Packs are curated invitations you create for friends joining Bluesky. They include recommendations for accounts to follow and custom feeds to subscribe to, offering a personalized onboarding experience.
A: Go to the “Starter Packs” tab on your profile. You can use the auto-generate tool or create your own from scratch. Add up to 50 accounts and 3 custom feeds, then name and describe your pack.
A: Each Starter Pack comes with a unique link and QR code. You can share these on Bluesky, text them to friends, post them on other social media, or even use them in professional networking.
A: Yes! If you’re new to Bluesky, joining via a Starter Pack is a great way to quickly discover relevant content and communities.
A: You can pick and choose which accounts and feeds to follow. You’re not obligated to follow everything in the pack.
A: While they’re designed to help new users get started, existing users can also use Starter Packs to discover new accounts and communities.
A: There’s no limit to the number of Starter Packs you can create. You can tailor them to different interests or groups of friends.
A: Currently, Starter Packs cannot be edited after they’ve been shared. However, you can always create a new one with updated recommendations.
A: You can find Starter Packs shared by other users on Bluesky or on other social media platforms. Look for posts mentioning “Bluesky Starter Pack” or use the #BlueskyStarterPack hashtag.
