Technology

A 25 Year History of the Animated GIF Told by GIFs

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Graphics Interface Format this month we put together a history of the animated GIF -- in GIF form.

By Rebecca Greenfield
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This article is from the archive of our partner .

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Graphics Interface Format this month we put together a history of the animated GIF -- in GIF form. In honor of this stalwart of the Internet, we have decided not only to do this entire history using the retro graphic format, but we will do it in the style of the more current What Should We Call Me meme. Even though The Atlantic Wire's Alex Abad-Santos declared that trend over weeks ago, it is part of GIF history and seems most appropriate for our chronicle.

WHEN THE GIF WAS INVENTED IT WAS ALL LIKE

AND

AND, OF COURSE

THEN BROWSERS CAME ALONG THAT COULD AUTOMATICALLY ANIMATE, SO THINGS START TO LOOK LIKE

THEN WE REACHED PEAK GIF, WITH A PROTO-INTERNET MEME THAT LOOKED LIKE

THEN INTERNET 2.0 CAME ALONG AND GIFS STOPPED BEING COOL AND THE TREND WAS ALL LIKE

THEN THE INTERNET DISCOVERED IRONY AND GIFS GOT ALL POST-MODERN LIKE

AND NOSTALGIC LIKE

AND

AND CELEBRITY FILLED

AND "CELEBRITY" FILLED

AND ALL ARTSY

AND, OF COURSE, MEME-LIKE

TODAY, EVERYTHING IS A GIF. EVEN MEMES LIKE

AND MOVIES LIKE

AND EVEN PRESIDENTS LIKE

WHAT WILL THE NEXT 25 YEARS HOLD FOR GIF. WILL IT SOON BE ALL LIKE

OR WILL THINGS GET SO IRONIC THAT WE'LL GO BACK TO

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.