Everybody put on your low-resolution, heavily watermarked party hats, because June 15 marks the 26th anniversary of the GIF!
Image courtesy of reactiongifs.com
To celebrate this grand occasion, we've gathered the top 10 GIF searches from the past 30 days on Yahoo, with the hope that the list will reveal something about Internet culture and the psychology of web users around the globe.
Also, we just really like GIFs. They make us happy.
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The Top 10 GIF Searches on Yahoo
1. Sex GIFs
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No surprise here. Did you know that 30% of all data transferred across the Internet is pornography? It makes sense, then, that the majority of GIF searches are related to sex. People love sex, and when you can combine what you love with GIFs, everyone wins.
Image courtesy of imgur
2. Animated GIFs
A search as broad as this can only mean one thing, and it's that people don't really care what GIFs they see. They just want GIFs, any GIFs, and they want them right now.
Clearly, not everyone feels this way. Some judge us for our GIF passion.
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But you know what? Those people just don't understand what GIFs mean to us. To the connoisseur, a good GIF is like a fine wine or an aged cheese -- and it's a gift that keeps on giving.
Yeah. That sounds about right.
Image courtesy of tumblr
3. GIF Creators
Ah, the GIF creator. The builder of happiness, the maker of dreams. Some web navigators aren't content to sit back and let others decide which GIFs they use. They choose the path less traveled, and set out to make little GIFs of their own. To you, GIF creators, we say:
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4. Funny GIFs
There's something wonderfully and inherently funny about looping a short section of video out of context and uploading it to the Internet for all to see. Who among us can't see the pleasure in kicking back...
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...and laughing at a few hilarious GIFs?
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5. What Is a GIF?
The next few results all search for the answer to one of the most important questions of our time: What's a GIF? Searches like this are understandable -- after all, GIFs can be confusing.
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A GIF, for the unenlightened, is a type of image file, similar to a JPEG or a PNG, that can be used to make short animations.
6. What Does GIF Mean?
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In current web language, images that are referred to as GIFs are almost exclusively animations -- though a GIF file can also be a static image.
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7. What Does GIF Stand For?
GIF stands for "Graphics Interchange Format." Confusing, we know, but what it stands for isn't important. What GIFs mean to you is what's important.
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8. Swift's Disgusted Reaction GIF
The eighth most popular GIF-related Yahoo search was for this specific GIF, of Taylor Swift reacting to a Justin Bieber-Selena Gomez kiss.
Image courtesy of imgur
9. Happy Mothers' Day GIF
We all love our mothers, and want them to have the best Mother's Day possible. Even though we really, reeeaaallly want to, maybe right now isn't the best time, financially, to purchase some day pass at a lavish spa. So, what better way to show our love than with a nice, shiny GIF? Feel free to use any of these:
Hey, Mom.
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Thanks for always being there for us. I know Dad's always there, too, but, well, you know how he is.
Image courtesy of gifninja.com
Anyway, we love you and we're here for you, no matter what.
Image courtesy of ohmagif.com
10. One Direction Funny GIFs
"One Direction," "GIFs" and "funny" are probably the hottest buzzwords for 13 year olds right now. So, a combined search for the trifecta comes as no surprise on this list.
For those of you who don't know, this is One Direction:
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Have any favorite GIFs to share with the world? Post them in the comments below. In the meantime, join us in wishing the GIF a happy 26th, and many more.
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