Despite the emergence of GIFs as one of the internet’s favorite art forms, Facebook still doesn’t allow the image format to live up to its full potential: they just can’t animate on the social network. But the GIF search engine Giphy has found a workaround. Starting today, all animated GIFs shared from Giphy to Facebook will employ a workaround that allows them to endlessly animate once they’re clicked on, seemingly through being converted into flash. In our test, it didn’t always work perfectly — some images would glitch in and out of existence — but it’s overall a much better situation for GIF lovers than the status quo: images devoid of life.
Giphy brings animated GIFs to Facebook
is The Verge’s executive editor. He has covered tech, policy, and online creators for over a decade.
Update: Despite Giphy’s workaround, a Facebook spokesperson tells us that “Facebook does not support animated GIFs.” That remains true, as what Giphy is doing doesn’t strictly bring GIFs to Facebook — it instead leaves the file format behind while bringing along the looping content.
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