Sosial networks & GIFs / by Michael Foley

Since 2005, Sosial networks have become a breeding ground for GIF artists eager to take the format to new places. early examples were in general clips from video footage or still images.

At the peak of its popularity between 2004 to 2007, the GIF website became considered a major hubsite of Internet memes. However, the growth of GIF-based sites began to wane circa 2008 with the arrival of instant video-streaming sites like YouTube.

Back then the average two-minute YouTube embed would have required about 40 minutes of buffering. This left room for Paper Rad, Arcade animated GIF in 2005 to viewed the medium through prisms of kitsch, irony and nostalgia.

Most notably, celebrity videos were being used to create Animated GIF files of their own idiomatic expressions throughout the internet media.