Image: © VectorGomes/Stock.adobe.com
Screenshots of the feature, which appears to still be in development, emerged on Threads.
Meta’s X-challenger Threads is reportedly planning to implement its own version of Bluesky’s ‘Starter Packs’.
These ‘Starter Packs’ are specific lists created by the platform’s users which recommend other users on the app.
Screenshot showing the purported new feature were posted to Threads by engineer Chris Messina, along with the caption: “Here’s what Threads’ Bluesky Starter Packs competitor looks like.”
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, which owns Threads, also recently posted on the site that it is currently testing the option to allow users to choose any feed – a move which appears to mirror Bluesky’s own Custom Feeds feature.
Bluesky took aim at Threads in a post on the platform: “If this app is going to keep copying our features, you might as well just join Bluesky.”
Following the takeover of Twitter (now X) by Elon Musk, and subsequent controversies over the site’s reported failures to stop disinformation and the spread of bot accounts, many people have been looking for a new short-form app to join.
Threads, which is connected to Instagram, launched last year as a space for users to share “real-time updates and public conversations”. A year later it had reached 175m monthly active users. As of this month, it has about 275m monthly active users.
Bluesky, originally a Twitter-funded project announced in 2019, was developed with the aim of creating an “open and decentralised standard for social media”. It began as an invite-only app and had more than 3m sign-ups before it went public. The challenger app then became public in February of this year.
Its user base has surged since then, reaching 15m users earlier this month, with 1m sign-ups in one day after Donald Trump’s recent election win. According to its user counter, the platform now has more than 23m users.
Earlier this month, market intelligence firm SimilarWeb release a report arguing that if Bluesky continues its current growth trajectory, it could catch up with Threads in daily active user numbers. However, Instagram head Adam Mosseri questioned the veracity of the data. TechCrunch showed a counter that finds Threads’ daily active user count is 10 times that of Bluesky at present.
Open-source champion Kelsey Hightower, best known for his work with Kubernetes and Google, spoke to SiliconRepublic.com about the promise of Bluesky as a decentralised platform. He said that we have been presented with a new opportunity to get social media right but added that we all have a responsibility to ensure that this happens.
Earlier this week, the European Commission said that Bluesky is violating the Digital Service Act (DSA) by failing to provide important details about the platform. Specifically, the Commission said that the site has no page listing “how many users they have in the EU and where they are legally established”, which is a requirement of the DSA. However, it is currently too small of a platform for the Commission to regulate.
Bluesky’s Emily Liu confirmed to The Verge that the platform is “actively working” with its lawyers to ensure compliance with the DSA.
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