#Newsfeed: Instagram introduces new safety features including blurring “sensitive content”; Facebook’s new ad format targets retailers; Ticketmaster respond to Smith Street Band ticket scalping

Plus how you can create your own concert experience via YouTube.

Facebook is launching a new ad format called Collection, which will allow retailer marketers to have a video situated on the top half of the ad unit with four recommended products below. Once someone clicks though on a promo from the newsfeed, they are taken to a fast-loading landing page (similar to Facebook’s website-like Canvas ads) where people can browse through up to 50 products. During the holidays, Sport Chek ran a campaign using GIFs that the sporting goods retailer claims doubled conversions and increased online sales by 28 percent.

Read more about this exciting new ad format here.

What happens when hackers get a bit sassy? Just take a look at the Twitter accounts of “Good Morning America,” ABC News, and GMA Pop News, which were hacked overnight. A series of profanity-laden posts appeared on the accounts, including one in which hackers said they supported President Donald Trump and another where they told ABC News to stop deleting the tweets,

Read more about this story here.

Instagram is continuing to act on a promise it made last year to keep the photo-editing and sharing app “a safe place for everyone”, announcing today that it is “fostering a safer, kinder community”. The official blog post outlines both a two-step authentication process for all users is now available, as well as plans to start blurring out “sensitive photos and videos” from your feed or a user’s profile.

Read more about these updates here.

It’s a great day to be a music nerd, with not only the news that the Gorillaz has dropped a new video, but you can also now enjoy your personal concert with VR videos on YouTube – including the new Gorillaz track. “With these new immersive experiences, you can transport yourself to top music festivals and killer concerts, without having to deal with the crowds,” YouTube stated in their official blog.

Read all about how VR technology is being embraced by YouTube here.

Ticketmaster has responded to The Smith Street Band’s warning to fans against “f**ked” ticket scalpers targeting their upcoming album tour. In a statement issued to triple j, a spokesperson for the company emphasised that the hugely inflated prices seen on Ticketmaster Resale are set by individual sellers and a result of market demand. “Ticketmaster acts on behalf of the promoter and venue, and doesn’t decide ticket prices for events. We invest more time, money and resources than any other ticketing company into technology, which means we do more than anyone to get tickets into the hands of fans when they go on sale at a primary level.”

Read the full statement from Ticketmaster here.

• Facebook’s New Video Ad Format Aims to Make Ecommerce Easier [via Adweek]
• Introducing Message Reactions and Mentions for Messenger [via FB Newsroom]
• Facebook tests an enhanced local search and discovery feature offering business suggestions [via TechCrunch]
• Facebook demographics analysis reveals several startling truths [via The Next Web]
• Hackers hit ABC, GMA Twitter accounts, express support of President Trump [via CNBC]
• 10 things you can learn from a terrible Twitter account [via The Verge]
• Fostering a Safer, Kinder Community [via Instagram Blog]
• Instagram starts rolling out safety features, will blur “sensitive content” [via Digital Trends]
• Instagram’s new policy to blur ‘sensitive’ photos is bound to get messy [via The Next Web]
• Instagram tests offline functionality [via Mashable]
• Enjoy your personal concert with VR videos on YouTube [via YouTube Blog]
• SoundCloud raised $70 million in debt funding [via Business Insider]
• Gorillaz return with an album date, a video, and creepy CGI portraits [via The Verge]
• Ticketmaster respond to Smith Street Band ticket scalping [via triple j]
• Apple patents a way to transform your iPhone or iPad into a MacBook [via Mashable]
• How the Financial Times gets people to share more videos [via Digiday]
• TRENDING: #NationalPuppyDay, #HarveyNorman, #MoBounce

JADEN JAM: One gamer in China was so frustrated with his team, he smashed his head through his monitor while playing at an internet cafe in Lanzhou.