#Newsfeed: Changes to Twitter’s character count; Instagram Stories ads now available globally; Brands not thinking about community engagement early enough

Plus the K-Pop stars that got $90,000 worth of plastic surgery for a music video.

Facebook’s week of “borrowing” ideas to launch new products continues, with the release of their version of GoFundMe. Individuals will now be able to raise money for themselves, a friend or someone or something not on Facebook (for example a pet), as well as add donate buttons to Facebook Live videos.

Read more on the official Facebook blog post here.

While Twitter still hasn’t delivered on some promises *cough*URLs don’t count as characters*cough*, it has decided to follow through on one promise to make your 140 characters count. From today, usernames will not count towards your tweet’s content – leaving you more room to express yourself.

Read the official statement on this new feature from Twitter here.

In a boost for brands ahead of the advertising trend, businesses large and small around the world can now easily start running ads in Instagram Stories. Through self-serve on Power Editor, Ads Manager or the Marketing API, businesses can run ads on stories optimised for reach, giving you control over how many people see the ad and how often.

Read the full story here.

Always pushing the boundaries with content, Boiler Room has just released its first virtual reality stream. The company – which has been streaming DJ sets online since 2010 – partnered with Google to produce a 15-minute set from Berlin DJ trio FJAAK compatible with Daydream VR.

See a promo video of the VR experience here.

Leading community management expert Julie Delaforce has suggested that marketers, brand managers and even not-for-profit groups need to consider the need for community management with their campaigns earlier, rather than waiting until the last minute to address the issue. Speaking at Mumbrella’s CommsCon, Delaforce explained that in an age of engagement, marketers needed to be across one of the most crucial touchpoints they have with their audiences.

Read more of Julie’s comments on the topic here.

• More Ways to Support Causes [via FB Newsroom]
• Facebook’s Experimenting with Alternate News Feed to Boost Content Discovery [via Social Media Today]
• Now on Twitter: 140 characters for your replies [via Twitter Blog]
• Jack Dorsey: Profit is just, like, a choice (also Twitter is going to live forever) [via Mashable]
• Instagram Stories ads now available globally [via FB Newsroom]
• 2016: A Year of Progress For Music [via Medium]
• Spotify-backed service Soundtrack Your Brand has customers buying more food that usual [via The Industry Observer]
• Sean Parker leads $5m funding round for music GIF developer Emoticast [via Music Business Worldwide]
• Reddit asks what the “Bohemian Rhapsody” of dance music is. This is what they came up with… [via Stoney Roads]
• You can watch Boiler Room’s latest DJ set in VR with Google Daydream [via The Verge]
• YouTube calls on the crowd to translate video titles [via The Next Web]
• Snapchat’s pitch to small brands and businesses: Self-serve sponsored geofilters [via Digiday]
• Brands not thinking about community engagement early enough, Quiip boss warns [via Mumbrella]
• Can you find the Bentley in this 57.7 billion pixel photograph of Dubai? [via Digital Trends]
• Man says ‘Fuck it, I’ll sell my browser history before ISPs can’ [via The Next Web]
• Scheduled is a new app that lets you schedule your text messages [via TechCrunch]
• Adobe figured out a way to copy realistic photo styles from one picture to another [via The Next Web]
• Marriott Rewards Is Giving 4 Influencers Spectacles to Make Buzzy Snapchat Stories [via Adweek]
• TRENDING: #Destiny2, #TDoV, #AFL

JADEN JAM: These K-Pop stars got $90,000 worth of plastic surgery, and all for the sake of a music video