I don’t like GIFs and it’s not your fault
They are all over the place now. Were they so prevalent before and I just now noticed? I don’t know. I’m seeing GIFs all over people’s blogs these days and they irritate the hell out of me. It is an assault on my vision. They are so jarring and repetitive. If the goal is to annoy then – Check Mark, they’ve done their job.
More things you didn’t want to know: GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format. Which is a bitmap image format. Which, I’m sure, means something technical. Regardless, GIFs suck.
I don’t want to see that GIF
If you love GIFs and you use them on your blog and your Facebook and your Twitter and wherever else you can use them: WTF? Why?!
Just kidding! Go ahead, keep doing what you are doing. Don’t let me stop you. I am just one voice out of many. Obviously other people like them or they wouldn’t exist in the first place.
But I will never, ever paste GIFs in my blog post or share them with my social media networks. Go to hell, GIFs! There you may cavort with your devil brethren: the constant zoom & pan in animated/CGI movies. I wish all GIFs an endless and miserable afterlife.
Where do you stand on the topic of GIFs? Like? Love? Hate? Indifferent?
84 comments on “I don’t like GIFs and it’s not your fault”
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The Honking Goose 
Ahh…finally a like-voice in a Pro-GIF universe. I cannot stand them either. They irritate me and I’ve no idea why they have this effect. In the beginning I made myself view them hoping that exposure would lead me to see the point but no…nothing.
I really don’t mind others using them but just wish people wouldn’t share them with me. It makes me feel like I’m turning into a grumpy old woman.
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I like using them to accentuate a point or a story. I think they’re fun. They also fall into categories. Some obnoxious as hell, yes, but there are others that work. It’s all about intention, context, and purpose.
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To each their own. I don’t like them, but I’m not mad that other people do. (well, only a little tiny bit mad – ha!)
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lol fair enough 😛
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Context-dependent. If it serves to prove a point, which through other means couldn’t be sufficiently or as effectively made, I’m all for them! But too often they’re just over the top, useless, or plain stupid, and thus, irritating.
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Like, way, way too often.
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If it weren’t for the new use of animated GIFs, the format would have become obsolete (on a side note, it’s interesting to contrast the GIFs of the ’90s and today’s GIFs). PNG is a superior format to GIF for almost cases where you’d use GIF, save animation. It even has support for indexed images (like GIF) if you really wanted to further reduce the file size. Furthermore, there’s the APNG extension which adds animation support to PNG, allowing GIF to be replaced completely. The masses haven’t realized that the format exists, and I’m undecided on whether that’s a good thing or not.
By the way, according to the inventors, GIF is pronounced “JIF” (with a soft ‘G’), like the peanut butter brand.
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#nerdcore – 😀 thanks for the background info!
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I make my decision on a case by case basis. Some of them I like or find funny (i.e. a GIF I have of “Eric Northman” dancing, yum) and some of them I consider a full-out assault on the eyes and seizure-inducing. I guess in the end I say live and let live but I doubt you’ll see many on my site. 🙂
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Yes to live and let live with the people. But the GIFs themselves, I would kill if I could only find a way. 😉
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GIFs can definitely make a blog more funny, if used properly. But, I feel your pain. I think I have one post that contains GIFs. I decided to stick with pictures after that. 😉
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I like things that are funny, it’s just such an assault on my senses that I can’t appreciate the humor within. Oh well. 🙂
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I don’t mind seeing GIFs they’re refreshing sometimes but I don’t want GIFs on my blog, I’ll stick with pictures.
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Me too, with the pictures (and the occasional video).
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I guess I’m neutral on the subject. They are ok if used occasionaly but If the page is loaded with them it does bug me.
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Yeah, that is annoying.
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Reading your blog always throws me into a fit of giggles. Your views on life are so honest. I live reading your posts, thank you
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Aw, thank you. That is a true compliment which I value so much. 😀
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I know the gif used to be a standard for internet images in the early days because it could compress pictures to a more manageable size for those slower speeds. The gif has stuck around because it is (I think) the only image format that can handle quick and easy animation – which is what it’s used for these days.
Most are okay, others can be annoying and some, usually depending on their size because they might be some lengthy animation, are downright annoying. Not gonna blame the whole format on a few bad eggs tho. They still have their place around, like with these little emoticons. 😉
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Somewhere out there, I’m sure there is some buzzkill who doesn’t like emoticons. 😦 I’m the buzzkill who doesn’t like gifs. It is what it is. 😀
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Now I know what a GIF is and they are not my cup of tea. It makes me feel like I am staring at a mirror ball at an old school disco but not nearly as much fun. Or that I have slipped into some hideous Groundhog Day time space continuum loop. Ugh.
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Yeah, no fun.
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Maybe you haven’t seen enough of the funny ones? I find this guy incredibly funny, so funny that I did two blog posts on him and I have developed a mild obsession. Let me know your thoughts…he is the GIF mastermind. Hope this changes your mind!!!!
http://contentcatnip.com/2014/08/11/scorpion-dagger-the-renaissance-needs-more-pizza-and-beer/
http://contentcatnip.com/2014/09/12/what-makes-a-gif-into-something-great/
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Nope, I’m still not convinced.
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I HATE most gifs!!! Some are ok, but most are just very obnoxious!! I remember when I thought they were cool when I was like 8 and they first came out, but yeah… those days are long gone…
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Long gone! I hate it when I really want to read someone’s blog post because I like their writing, but the article is interspersed with GIFs that make me batty!
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For those who are asking, a GIF is basically nothing more than a tiny little movie set to loop, and I have to agree with all the nay-sayers here because in my humble opinion, the only programming device misused more than a GIF was that stupid “Blinking Text” that used to drive me crazy every time I saw it. It was so often misused that books on how to set up your own web-page started adding warnings against using it if you wanted anybody to visit your site more than once. Lol.
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Ah yes, the ‘blinking text’ is already condemned to internet hell, I’m sure. 🙂
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Well, considering Firefox no longer supports it (without an add-on, anway), I’d say that’s a pretty accurate statement. Firefox traces its roots to Netscape, which was the first browser to implement blinking text.
However, that now means that you can’t properly make clever remarks like “Schrödinger’s cat is not dead”, where the word “not” blinks.
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Oh, I hate the blinking text! It makes the site look amateur because the only website people who got excited for it (and put it all over their site/advertisements) are amateurs looking for attention. It’s like the fake “You won!” popups. It’s a cheap click, but whenever I see stuff like this (or animated gifs) I don’t come back to the site. 🙂 It feels spammy and unprofessional.
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Actually, it’s possible to create a GIF that only goes through its animation once. It’s just that nobody ever does it.
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I think it depends on how they’re used, but generally speaking, I’m not fond of GIFs. They make my eyes hurt, and are a pain when my internet is slow 😉
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They make my eyes hurt too. And my brain. 🙂
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I don’t like all GIFs. I created one of my own last month with the lunar tetrad/blood moon. I do agree that there is some really annoying ones out there.
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I would say a vast majority of them fall in the ‘really annoying’ category. I guess you already knew I would think that though. 🙂
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Of course. 😉
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I have enjoyed some animated GIFs (it is possible, btw, to have a non-animated GIF), but most of them annoy me. I think it’s because they often don’t have enough “slides” in them so they loop back so fast that I can’t figure out what’s going on nor where the scene starts. I think that maybe if they repeated the last (or first) picture several times in a row so there was more of a pregnant pause before everything started up again, I’d be happier with them.
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I did notice it mentioned, in my brief research, that not all GIFs are animated. (I did not know that before today) But as usual, I glossed over a fact that would have added a complexity that might confuse my point. Creative liberty and all…. 🙂
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Yes, GIFs can be non-animated. A GIF form will make the file smaller that a JPEG optimized. However, it can only use the 256 color palette so in many instances the GIF doesn’t look as good. For a while about 10 years ago, some fantastic things were done with animated GIFs by Web Graphic artists. I was one of them although I was an amateur to many of them. There were waterfalls, liquid gold, trails of fog, etc. The photos made into animated GIFs — disgusting in my opinion. This is a technique that should be reserved for the graphics that are created in the better graphic programs like Photo Shop and Paint Shop Pro.
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I like them if used sparingly and with a purpose. Not so much when they’re jumping out at me from all angles.
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that’s what they are made to do *shudder*
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I don’t like them either, but I have seen a few cases where that particular GIF was funny and well-placed. Like, two in the past five years or so. They make my eyes hurt.
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Yeah, two in the last five years makes me think we could have survived without them at all.
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Ha ha!
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I’m on the not-so-much side. It’s like your worst cartoon nightmare. I’m also annoyed that I have yet to figure out how to post one. I may change sides.
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Sounds like a slippery slope. Proceed with caution, my friend.
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I confess, I occasionally use a GIF or two in posting. I’ve read blogs that use them excessively too & that’s bothersome for me.
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Excessive use makes me wonder about the user, not in a good way…
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I don’t like them, and they tend to slow down the page loading.
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slow loading = bad
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Is that where the picture moves???
If so… yes I hate them
If not… then I would have to know what you are talking about in order to proclaim my bold opinion!!!
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Yes those stupid, dang moving pictures.
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I do a GIF now and again.
We all have our quirks, I don’t like reading color on color, like blue on green or red on yellow, and I can’t stand white on black or small fonts.
Let’s quirk on, shall we?
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Yes, let’s! Honk!
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Me likely, but I try and use them sparingly.
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If sparingly = never, that’s good. 😉
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I know what you mean, I did make and put a couple of gifs in widgets beside my posts, but they irked me, so I removed them before they irked my visitors 😀
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Thank goodness!
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My blog is still basic, not sure I can post a GIF until I upgrade.
GIFs seem to be the po’relations to the You-Tube video, seems if I did want to do something like that why not go all out and post a proper video?
In the meantime, the handful of JPGs will work well enough.
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With a GIF it is just right there bam! flashing all around and making me dizzy. I’m all for videos because I can choose to press play or not.
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Hear you.
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🙂
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I love GIFs, but I don’t know how to create them or pass them along or anything. You’ll always be GIF free in my posts. Because of ignorance.
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A blessing in disguise.
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Ignorance! The deciding factor for many of my inactions.
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If I had a GIF to post I would post it on my comment. :{D> Evil French Guy
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Don’t you dare! 😉
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I’m not even sure I know what a GIF is, LOL! Would you post one as an example?? JK!
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Fat chance!
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It’s the little thingies that move around repetitively. First invented for porn.
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Is that right? No wonder I never noticed them before.
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I won’t be offended if you delete the sample below :).
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Thank you, I suspected as much. They seem funny and annoying all at once 🙂
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I generally stick to jpeg formats, and use the Tundra comic strip a lot in my blogs, I tend to shy away from animated gifs and pngs etc.
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I don’t just shy away – I back away quickly while shouting obscenities! 😉
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It depends on gif usage purpose.
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Yeah, that makes sense.
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😉
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Lol I love them!
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fine. agree to disagree. 🙂
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I’ve seen them work in blog posts that really accentuate the subject matter. I’ve also seen them used in numbers that make my browser just crawl. I rarely use them, but I’m not opposed to them either.
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slow browser = no fun
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.GIF is OK unless they consume a web page. Sometimes they are very funny. I never seem to be able to post them anyway, they don’t function.
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Other people are having that problem too. That makes me happy. 🙂
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