Sending infinite GIFs was fashionable in the middle of the 2000s, before emoticons and TikToks were even a thing. Giphy even cited the waning popularity of GIFs as a defense when the UK government attempted to prohibit a merger with Meta, the parent company of Facebook.
Since Then
For a long time, looped animated movies were almost a form of communication, and, believe it or not, they dominated the early social media landscape. But today, things have changed, and even the GIF database provider has acknowledged that the animated pictures are “for boomers.”
Into the Future
Giphy, a search engine that lets users chose from hundreds of GIFs based on keywords, is the database in question. However, as the TikTok-creating Gen Z age takes over as the majority of internet users, the popularity of GIFs has fallen off quickly in recent years.
In an August filing, the business stated: “There are hints that GIF usage is declining overall. GIFs have lost popularity as a content format, as seen by market analysis and user attitude on social media, with younger people in particular characterizing GIFs as “for boomers” and “cringe.””