What Bianconi calls the ‘GIF-enabled’ moment is one that takes advantage of the flash of mimetic sharpness in a viewer and draws it in a productive mode. Harmon’s decision to give his recordings a faithful touch is reminiscent of Walter Benjamin’s conclusions in the work of art. And yet, instead of cinematic images that train us in new modes of perception, they have become the images that we see on our computer screens every day, flashing in time with new perceptual abilities through screens that move in several dimensions.
Eadweard Muybridge tried to isolate the horse’s gallop from its special essence in time and space, so that it would be forever framed for our experience. Today, a million versions of the Muybridge horse are running around the Internet as animated GIFs of questionable quality, fleeting, but often flashing. Images, representations and imitations, in turn, have given way to movements, incantations and impressions that mix the common memory of our collective experiences with speeds, distances and, above all, correspondences that are getting bigger and bigger than ever before. A pattern reminiscent of the work of Walter Benjamin, who argued that metric, rhythm and other heterogeneous impressions had a significant impact on human modes of intuition and experience. GIFs allow brands to talk in a way that connects with people through the cultural channels they already know and use. Like emojis, GIFs emphasize the visual, the wordless and the contemporary.
Since their beginnings in the early 90s, simple, linguistically animated GIFs have diversified with the web from which they emerged. They correspond quickly and directly and are suitable for constant mutations and assemblages by their producers and consumers; blurring the distinction between these identities along the way. Their poor visual fidelity is compensated by their propensity to repeat and circulate, rather than the actions and expressions they harbor. By allowing us to wallow in their remixed repetitions, animated GIFs feed on human susceptibility to similarity and recognition, even if their superficial effect remains far from a certain medial origin. Adjust the quality of the file, the distinction between frames or the duration of the animation, and you can completely bypass the textbook feeling and produce a content that is a silent movie in all respects. While the following example may look like a video, it is actually 180 frames that are rendered in quick succession with infinite loop playback.
By the appearance of the GIF on portable monitors or smartphone screens, viewers enter into physiological connection with server banks, optical cables, Wi-Fi signals and masts of 4G mobile phones, which talk about invisible protocols in zeros and ones. They quickly attract the attention of a reader and can be processed and understood immediately, effectively conveying your message. This makes them very attractive for any brand that is trying to meet the content needs of its audience.
You and your closest friends have a relationship that, in all likelihood, no one but you can really understand. Relationships with best friends can be complicated and confusing, but they can also be supportive, easy and loving (see what I mean by Confusing?). It’s hard to sum up your relationship in a few words or with a short sentence, but that doesn’t mean your friends won’t appreciate it when you tell them you matter. Fortunately, when words are hard to come by, memes and gifs rush in to help you capture your relationship for yourself in a way that nothing else can. As with a video, you can share your presentation on other channels that you would not otherwise have access to. The fact that GIF files are much smaller than videos is a really important advantage.
Once considered juvenile and unprofessional, GIFs are now a fully accepted, often indispensable social media and social media marketing tool. In addition, they are immediately eye-catching and can be easily shared on several social networks. Whether you are already an experienced designer or just looking for your GIFs in search engines, animated GIFs can add value to your brand and show your personality. Small and composed of a few frames, animated GIFs entered their classic phase here.
In addition, research has shown that people often react to emojis in the same way as to a human face. We have emojis and the like so ingrained in culture that we have taught our neurological response to respond as if we were responding to someone talking to us in person. But don’t be fooled, while psychology tells us to use more emojis and gifs in our communication, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are still acceptable in the workplace. LinkedIn a gift to cheer someone up has partnered with video clip search engine Tenor to allow users to add GIFs to their conversations on the professional platform’s messaging service, according to a company blog post. LinkedIn’s 546 million members can now search for GIFs in LinkedIn Messaging and view and send trending GIFs without leaving the app. Instead of high resolutions and optical speeds with white knuckles as a representative of the cultural immersion of the XXI.
Over the years, I’ve read some strange comments and messages while doing social media community management. But this did not prevent me from creating a connection between the brands I represent and the commentators with thoughtful answers and timely GIFs. Mark Nunes reminds us that Internet traffic is based on unimpeded flow logic. In its beginnings, cinema was considered capable of immobilizing the world, to appreciate and enchant man.
Images can be very useful in explaining to customers how a product works. For example, a software company may use GIFs to create tutorials for customers. GIFs can also help break down big information to make it more readable and memorable for your audience. The automatic loop also increases the effectiveness of the message you want to convey. In recent years, they have become increasingly popular on Internet forums, messaging applications and even in internal business communication.