Top Reaction Gifs for the format's 30th Anniversary

June 16, 2017 | By Hailey Rae Swalley

In honor of the 30^th anniversary of the GIF this week, Facebook has added a GIF button directly to the comment bar – making it easier than ever to interact visually on the platform. It’s hard to deny the impact that GIFs have had in recent years on modern social media culture, no matter what side of the pronunciation debate you stand on (personally, I think it’s JIF, like the peanut butter). Take a look at a few facts that make GIFs so powerful for social sharing:

More than 25,000 GIFs are shared in Facebook Messenger every minute
GIF library GIPHY has more than 100 million daily active users
Only 20% of text is remembered after reading
When a relevant image is paired with information, people retained 65% of the information three days later
Brands from Kraft to GE to Starbucks use gifs in their marketing, and they were even popular during the 2016 election