Shutterstock
Facebook spent $400 million dollars to buy Giphy, the biggest gif-sharing website on the internet. Their plan is to integrate Giphy with Instagram, another social media giant owned by Facebook.
Shutterstock
A GIF (short for “graphics interchange format”) is a short animated video or picture without sound. GIFs are most commonly sent and uploaded to express funny reactions. Out of all the different websites that host GIFs, the most popular by far is Giphy. Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit and Slack all have integrated Giphy into their apps. It’s surprising that Giphy wasn’t integrated with Instagram before.
Facebook and Giphy first started talking about a possible collaboration before the coronavirus pandemic. At first, it seemed more like a partnership deal for the two companies. However, once Facebook offered $400 million for a buyout, Giphy agreed and the new deal was made. Facebook plans to integrate Giphy with Instagram, which means that it will soon be possible to send and upload gifs directly through Instagram. This will make messaging on Instagram a lot more fun and accessible.
Facebook’s large ad revenue and a wide variety of demographics will, in turn, make Giphy more popular than ever. Because of the pandemic, it is still unknown when Instagram will roll out its new Giphy-oriented features. Hopefully, Instagram will release its exciting new capabilities with Giphy soon.
