It's pronounced "Jif"
Just Another Day in Social Media. 😉
This Friday is April 1st. And it isn't just April Fool's Day — it's also the 46th birthday of Apple Inc. Founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, the Apple Computer Company was officially launched on April 1, 1976. Since then, it has revolutionized desktop computing, the music industry, and much more. And while some love to hate Macs and iPhones, I think we can all agree that these Mac vs. PC commercials are still a classic.
Here are today's top stories:
Honouring the GIF, and its creator
Instagram offers new customized feed options
Are you a Twitter lurker?
And the award for best-ever Oscar GIF goes to...
Read on ⬇️
A Real GIFt
GIFs have been a gift to social media, and in today's newsletter, we're going to honour them and the recently deceased creator, Stephen E. Wilhite, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 74. Keep reading if you want to learn more about what GIFs are, how to create them (including a new feature from Twitter!), brand examples, and some of the top GIFs of all time.
What the GIF?
GIFs, which stands for Graphics Interchange Format, are videos shown in a looping animation format that are used to express an emotion, a mood, or a joke. For example, the most-used GIF in 2021 according to GIPHY.com was "Bored Stanley" from The Office (makes sense for year two of a global pandemic).
Wilhite created GIFs while working at CompuServe, an online service provider. The compressed video format officially launched in 1987, and are still a popular choice for social media and instant messaging. In fact, in 2012, GIF was the word of the year, and in 2013, Wilhite won a lifetime achievement honour at the Webby Awards for his creation. And in accepting the honour, Wilhite forever put to rest the debate over the pronunciation of GIF — It's pronounced "Jif" not "Gif." Got it!
How to Create GIFs
There are large libraries of GIFs available on all of the major social media platforms, so you might never need to create your own. Most of those libraries are powered by GIPHY, a search engine that allows you to search for GIFs, as well as use a GIF maker. The site is so popular that Facebook purchased it for $400 million in 2020 (however, Meta may end up having to sell it now that a UK regulator has opposed the sale). GIPHY is free to use. There are also a bunch of paid tools you can check out (Buffer created this list).
*New This Week: Twitter announced that iOS users can now record and create GIFs within the platform. Just click on the Camera icon > record your GIF > if you like it, select "Use GIF" or select "Retake."
Why Use GIFs
GIFs, which naturally catch the eye, can help break through the noise on social media. So whether you're making a big announcement, or trying to create engagement for a special brand campaign, a thoughtful GIF can help brands create conversation. Here are some brand examples:
DiGiorno Pizza — "Hungry? Here's my GIF to you."
Calm App— Super Bowl reminder to "Breathe in, Breathe out"
Starbucks — Introducing its Fudge Brownie Hot Chocolate
Top GIFs
We all have our favourite GIFs. But just in case you were wondering what others like to use, here are a few "Top" lists:
50 of the World's Most Iconic GIFs: Daily Mail
Top GIFs of 2021: GIPHY.com
The Best, Most Used Sports GIFs of All Time: Sports Illustrated
And this GIF is in honour of Wilhite's favourite GIF ("Dancing Baby")
SOCIAL SNACKS
Controlling the Instagram Feed
You can tell things are getting harder to manage when a platform tells users to do it themselves 😂. That's exactly what Meta-owned Instagram did this week, announcing that we can now manage a new chronological feed using two different views: Following and Favourites. Following simply shows all posts from people you follow. Favourites is a new feed that you curate with up to 50 of your favourite accounts. According to a blog post by Instagram, people are not notified when they are added or removed from your Favourites list (phew), and "posts from accounts on your favorites list will also show up higher in your home feed, as shown by a star icon." But take note: That main feed on Instagram is going to continue to be ranked, according to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri.
Investing in AR
Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is continuing to invest in the future of augmented reality (AR), purchasing a company that will help it "explore possibilities for the future of the Snap Camera, including Spectacles," the company said in a blog post. Spectacles look like sunglasses, but are in fact much more dynamic. They allow Creators to experience the AR world, while also capturing content to share on social media (sort of like the next gen of Meta's Ray Ban Stories). Prior to being purchased by Snapchat, NextMind, was developing "non-invasive brain computer interface (BCI) technology in order to enable easier hands-free interaction using electronic devices, including computers and AR/VR wearables and headsets." Wowser.
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ICYMI
🔴 Instagram now lets all users tag products in their posts [The Verge]
🔴 Snapchat introduces its first Snap Focus AR Certification [Snapchat Blog]
🔴 Twitter introduces an option to search your DMs [@TwitterSupport]
RESEARCH-LIKE
Are You a Twitter Lurker?
About half of U.S. adults — mainly between the ages of 30-49 — prefer to "lurk" on Twitter than actively post, according to a recent Pew Research Center study. Here are a few other fun facts about Twitter "lurkers," as compared to active tweeters:
They visit Twitter less frequently
They are more likely to use the platform to hear diverse points of view
They follow — and are followed by — fewer accounts
Lurkers are most likely to tweet "replies"
And yes, I am a Twitter lurker. You?
ACADEMY-LIKE
"If only Bradley's arm was longer"
Since this newsletter is dedicated to GIFs and the person who created them, I didn't want to forget to mention some of the best Oscar Award GIFs ever created. But the Oscar for best GIF, in my opinion, goes to this one 👇. And in case you want to see the pic on Twitter, Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres tweeted, "If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars"
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