What is a GIF?

August 19, 2023
David Sunnyside

GIFs have become a popular way to express yourself on social media. They’re like emojis taken to the next level, and they can add a lot of personality to your posts.

A GIF is an image that loops continuously and can be used to create animations, memes, or short clips of events. They’re easy to use and can be posted directly on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or other platforms. They’re also a great way to grab people’s attention, as they’re more eye-catching than a traditional photograph or video.

In the past, many GIFs were created with copyrighted material. This may have led to some legal issues, especially when businesses were using them commercially. However, it’s now more common for copyright holders to be willing to allow the use of their images in GIFs when it’s for non-commercial purposes.

The GIF format was introduced in 1987 by CompuServe as a way to reduce the size of images and short animations. It uses the Lempel-Ziv–Welch data compression method, which allows for relatively large images to be stored in a small file size. It supports up to 256 colors and can be displayed with a palette.

GIFs are a great way to grab your audience’s attention, but it’s important to use them in moderation. Too many can cause your website to load slowly and have a negative impact on your SEO.

David Sunnyside
Co-founder of Urban Splatter • Digital Marketer • Engineer • Meditator
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram