Mastodon Is Taking Cues From Bluesky With Plans For Its Own Starter ‘Packs’
Mastodon is taking cues from Bluesky with plans for its own starter “Packs,” a new feature designed to make it easier for newcomers to the decentralized social network to find and follow interesting users. With over 8 million accounts and nearly 700,000 monthly active users, Mastodon aims to simplify the onboarding process and boost engagement across its growing community.
Image Credits:Mozilla
A Familiar Idea With A Mastodon Twist
The concept behind Mastodon’s starter Packs mirrors what Bluesky introduced last year. On Bluesky, Starter Packs allow users to curate lists of accounts to follow, helping new users overcome the “cold start” problem — the awkward beginning when you don’t yet know who to follow or what content to explore.
These curated collections have become a hit on Bluesky, covering everything from tech and politics to art and memes. Meta even took note, rolling out a similar idea on Instagram Threads, showing just how valuable guided discovery can be on emerging social platforms.
How Mastodon Plans To Make Starter Packs Different
While Mastodon is inspired by Bluesky, the platform plans to take a more user-first approach. Mastodon’s starter Packs will give users control over whether they appear in a Pack. This will be tied to existing privacy and discoverability settings.
To opt out, users can simply disable the option “Feature profile and posts in discoverability algorithms.” Additionally, Mastodon will notify users whenever they are added to a Pack — something Bluesky doesn’t currently do.
This opt-in transparency ensures users can easily remove themselves from Packs, just as they can already do with Quote Posts, another recent Mastodon feature.
Collaboration And Upcoming Release
The nonprofit behind Mastodon, Mastodon gGmbH, is working closely with other fediverse developers to finalize this new feature. The project is part of a Fediverse Enhancement Proposal (FEP) that’s now live on GitHub.
According to the developers, the first version of Mastodon’s Packs and other onboarding improvements are expected to roll out in Mastodon 4.6. The platform is currently on version 4.4.5, meaning users can expect these updates in an upcoming release.
Why It Matters For The Fediverse
By taking inspiration from Bluesky’s success, Mastodon’s new Packs could make the decentralized social experience more welcoming and less confusing for first-time users. It’s also another sign of healthy cross-pollination within the fediverse, where platforms learn from one another while staying true to open, user-centered principles.
If successful, these starter Packs could help Mastodon grow beyond its niche and become a more mainstream alternative to centralized social apps.
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