Mastodon is preparing to roll out a new feature called Collections in the next few weeks, according to an announcement reported by The Verge. Designed to help users find and create lists of accounts worth following, Collections take inspiration from Bluesky Starter Packs. Mastodon’s implementation includes several controls intended to shape how those lists behave and how moderation and discovery work.
For Mastodon users, the core change is that Collections can hold up to 25 accounts in a single list. For the broader social-platform ecosystem, the release represents another example of how the same underlying product problem—helping people decide whom to follow—produces new features across federated and centralized networks.
How Collections Work
Collections function as a structured way to group accounts. If you’re on a participating server, you’ll be able to create a Collection with a short description and a topic. The feature also supports marking a Collection as “sensitive,” which “hides the description and accounts behind a content warning.”
The system includes controls around social graph interactions. Collections will allow users to opt out of having your account appear in someone else’s list—a behavior Mastodon previously discussed when the feature was called “Packs” last year. Users will receive a notification if an account adds you to a Collection, and will have the ability to report a Collection.
Design Decisions: No “Follow All” and Focus on Creation
Mastodon’s head of design, Imani Joy, explained a specific design decision: Collections won’t include a “Follow All” button to start. Joy noted that feedback from Bluesky showed people sometimes mass-followed accounts from Starter Packs that later turned out to be outdated, resulting in a “subpar feed afterwards.”
This decision reflects how Mastodon treats list-following behavior as a product issue. If a list can be followed in bulk, curation power transfers to the list creator; if items must be followed individually, users retain more control over their feed.
Mastodon is also prioritizing creation rather than discovery of Collections. The platform is focusing on creation because the “number of community-created Collections needs to hit a critical mass before certain discovery experiences become impactful.” Eventually, Mastodon aims to give server owners the ability to recommend Collections during onboarding, which would replace the recommended accounts feature.
Federation and Moderation Considerations
Collections are being rolled out in a federated environment, and the feature set reflects typical requirements for distributed social networks: user control, content warnings, and moderation pathways.
The “sensitive” flag that hides descriptions and accounts behind a content warning suggests Mastodon expects Collections to contain varied subject matter, including content that may require additional context. The ability to mark a Collection as sensitive aligns the feature with content-safety workflows.
The opt-out behavior for appearing in someone else’s list provides a user-level constraint on how social connections are surfaced. Combined with notifications when you’re added, the system treats inclusion as an event users should be aware of.
Reporting is built into the feature, which is important because Collections created by community members require moderation tooling beyond simple account-level controls.
Rollout Timeline
Collections are rolling out on the mastodon.social server in the coming week ahead of a broader launch with Mastodon 4.6. The staged deployment suggests a coordinated release with the platform’s versioning cycle.
The feature also signals continued cross-pollination of social-network mechanics. Mastodon is explicitly taking inspiration from Bluesky Starter Packs but adapting the concept with different constraints and controls. The reported differences include the maximum of 25 accounts per list, the absence of a “Follow All” button, and the decision to build toward discovery only after community-created lists reach critical mass.
Source: The Verge