I bet you use memes(表情包) when talking to your friends on WeChat or QQ. And among-the file formats(文件格式), GIF is probably one of your favourites.
A GIF is usually a short funny video only a few seconds that repeats. The GIF turned 34 this year，which makes it old in web history. That's even two years older than the World Wide Web.
Ever since the GIF was created, it has long been overlooked(忽视). It is smartphones and social media that have brought it back to our daily lives.
According to David McIntosh from the GIF search service Tenor, the GIF does a better job of showing people's feelings than short text messages do. "Things like 'lol' (laugh out loud) aren't very expressive (有表现力的). "he told Wired.
The GIF is also a very small file format. This helped it become popular among ceUphones users. Because of its popularity, Oxford Dictionaries named "GIF" the word of the year in 2012.
In 2016, Facebook users sent more than 13 billion(十亿 ) GIFs, reported Sina News. There are even search services specifically(专门) for GIF, such as Tenor and Giphy.
lf you can't find anything you like there, just create your own GIF on apps like DECO and GiphyCam.
