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In 2012, Oxford Dictionaries named GIF the Word of the Year. Animated GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format) are a series of still images that give the impression of motion when displayed in sequence. In short, they are a digital flipbook. GIFs have evolved from simple entertainment and website decoration to a tool utilized by some of the biggest companies in the world to tell a story.
GIFs gained a massive online following thanks to Web developers featuring them on their sites or, more recently, when people wanted to capture and quickly share online a comical experience.
With the growth of high speed wireless networks, GIFs are another way to demonstrate the value of video online and on mobile. Twitter recently launched Vine, a mobile service that lets users capture and share short bursts of video of six seconds or less, or homemade GIFs. Vimeo, a site for hosting online videos, also recently announced the acquisition of Echograph, a mobile app which allows users to make GIFs. And, even Google added this form of multimedia content as a permanent part of image search and allowed them to be used as profile pictures on their social media network Google+.
From blogs to social media networks, GIFs are solidifying their place in online history.
Photo Credit: Gilberto Santa Rosa, Flickr
