On June 15, we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of the GIF, which has made communicating on the internet more joyful, more visual and let’s face it, a whole lot funnier! To mark the big 3-0, we’re:
- Taking an inside look at GIF popularity on Messenger
- Announcing that GIFs in comments are now available to everyone on Facebook (yay!)
- Introducing some new and exclusive GIFs we’ve created featuring some of the internet’s biggest stars
- Asking you to help us answer the age-old debate of how to pronounce the word “GIF”
An Inside Look at GIFs in Messenger
With this milestone approaching, we took a look at how GIFs have transformed the way people communicate with each other since introducing GIFs in Messenger in 2015:
- People on Messenger sent nearly 13 billion GIFs in the last year, or nearly 25,000 GIFs every minute
- GIF sends on Messenger have tripled in the past year
- New Year’s Day 2017 was the most popular day ever for GIF sends on Messenger, with more than 400 million GIF sends
GIFs in Facebook Comments are Finally Here!
We know people love communicating with GIFs on Messenger, and we’re also making it easier to use GIFs on Facebook. Today we’re introducing the ability to add GIFs in comments for all people on Facebook globally.
Just tap the GIF button when you go to make a comment, type in what you’re looking to say, and add the GIF that really nails it!
The GIF Party
We’re also celebrating the 30th anniversary the best way we know how — a GIF party with some of your favorite stars.
GIPHY Studios created 20 GIFs featuring some of the internet’s most recognizable faces: DNCE, Logan Paul, Amanda Cerny, DREEZY, Patrick Starr, Violet Benson, Wuz Good, Brandi Marie, and Landon Moss.
Each GIF is a unique and shareable morsel of human expression. They will be available to use by searching #GIFparty when sharing a GIF on Facebook or Messenger or by visiting GIPHY.com/Facebook.
Ending an Age-old Debate: How Do You Pronounce GIF?
Finally, we’re looking to solve the debate over how the word GIF is pronounced once and for all. Over the next few days, if you live in the US you might see a poll on Facebook asking you to cast your vote. You can also vote by visiting Facebook’s official Page on your mobile phone. To find the Page, search for “Facebook” in the main Facebook app.
We’ll report back here on whether the “hard g” or “soft g” pronunciation reigns supreme.
