Starter Packs is born.
With all the commotion of people moving to Bluesky, and the popularity of Bluesky Starter Packs that made it easier for people to find and connect with people on the platform, the one thing that seemed missing was one place that made it easier to search and explore all of the Bluesky Starter Packs and the profiles within, and so https://www.starterpacks.net was born.
Building the Ultimate Bluesky Starter Pack Directory
In order to provide the most utility to people and the Bluesky community, I felt it was important to try to capture as many—if not all—of the Bluesky Starter Packs that are available, to try to build the ultimate directory of all the Starter Packs that Bluesky has to offer. On initial launch, the site quickly captured over 60k+ of the Starter Packs being created on Bluesky. That coupled with trying to optimize the UI to make it easy to quickly find and explore both Starter Packs and Profiles, the first goal was close to being achieved, but it seemed like there was more that the site could offer.
So, what’s next?
With all the data that is freely accessible via the Bluesky API and Firehose, the mind started turning thinking about what other kind of cool stuff could be built on top of it, or learned from it. My goal is to optimize the experience of creating and managing Starter Packs, since they are a pretty useful tool for adoption and discovery.
I also think there could be some interesting statistics or analytics that could be pulled from the information, like if someone followed you from a Starter Pack, and specifically which one. Or, how do the popularity of specific Starter Packs impact the follower counts of the profiles showcased in them.
All of these are interesting things that I plan to explore and optimize on the site, and my goal is to use this as a testing ground for playing with data and trying to provide utility for the people on Bluesky, and beyond.
Stay tuned! I will be sharing what I am testing, what is working and what is not. I have also been sharing my journey on a podcast available at: https://www.allplay.fm
