We netizens are constantly yearning for a new obsession and these animated and sarcastic images have certainly become an integral part of our culture. It is said that a picture says a thousand words, and companies use these visual assets as various forms of communication in social media marketing, newsletters or blog posts. It is being embraced as a perfectly acceptable mode of communication for brands, political leaders, official emails, and social media.

What is a meme?

Memes refer to a piece of digital content that has photos with captions that are linked in a very effective way to convey responses or situations. Anything and everything can be turned into a meme, like; a photo, a video, a person, an animal, a fictional character, an action or even a GIF.

What is a GIF?

A GIF is a form of meme, which can move. GIFs’ animated styles make them more effective for communicating digital content.

Creative expression takes a leap:

Memes and gifs have paved the way for non-verbal communication in digital mediation environments. They offer concise and flexible expressions for various complex verbal and visual sentiments. They simply make it easier for communication to happen, reducing the problem of misunderstandings when reading a text message. Various sentiments, such as sarcasm or exaggeration, can be easily captured by memes or GIFs.

The growing preference for GIFs:

GIFs are the perfect middle ground between classic images and heavy video and offer the best of both worlds value. They attract attention for moving images, with or without sound, which makes them quick to consume and easy to digest. An idea can be expressed better and broader compared to a single photo.

Why do we use memes and GIFs?

The richness and nuances of various sentiments can be condensed into a single post using memes or GIFs. It is fast becoming the most efficient form of cultural expression, even in mainstream marketing communications.

When a YouTube video takes some time to watch, these GIFs can serve the purpose in less time. They take up less file size because they are shorter and do not require Flash Player. They can autoplay on various platforms and can be implemented in multiple ways. They add meaning to something written or even to express better responses to various scenarios.

Education and marketing using GIF:

GIFs are used not only to make you laugh, but also to convey serious meaning to your content. People use GIFs for educational purposes such as; drawings, illustrations, and slow-motion videos to describe scientific concepts.

Brands have popularized GIFs by using them in various advertisements and modes of internal and external communication.

What does the future hold?

These GIFs and memes are here to stay. They will be used in an even broader sense to promote marketing content, drive more traffic, and create more interest from marketers. There are various websites and blogs that use memes and GIFs to enrich the experience of their visitors. It is suggested that GIFs are the future of photojournalism.

Everyone on the internet has fallen really, deeply, madly in love with GIFs and memes, and I look forward to seeing many more in the future.