I’m sure you’ve seen GIFs exploding on the Internet this year. Who doesn’t love a funny cat GIF here and there? In case you’ve been hiding under a rock your whole life and don’t know what a GIF is, it is a three to five second looped video. A GIF can sometimes express more than a word or emoji can, and humans are looking for these expressions in mobile and online interactions.
Alex Chung, CEO of Giphy, will be speaking at SXSW Interactive about leading Giphy into the future and what the tool means for art and self-expression. Giphy was the first ever search engine for GIFs created by Chung in 2013. You may have noticed Facebook has integrated Giphy into its Messenger app and Twitter has jumped on board as well.
“This is the year for GIFs,” said Chung. “They’ve been around since the 80’s but in more of a comical kind of way, not as a respected media format.” Even though GIFs have been around since the 80’s, Chung believes that the reason they are popular now is because the technology is finally catching up. It used to be such a hassle to create GIFs, but now the technology is available to easily create GIFs. “The desire and content has always been there, but the actual technology and ability to share them socially hasn’t. It just recently showed up,” said Chung.
“We’re [Giphy] all about telling people how GIFs can be used and we want people see the power of GIFs and how they can be utilized for information and entertainment expression,” said Chung.
While this isn’t Chung’s first SXSW rodeo, he is very excited for this year. Chung was on a panel last year that gained a lot of attention and brought him back for this year. “The most fun I had was after the panels, a bunch of us just hangout afterwards and talk about GIFs and social media. I even met people from America’s Funniest Home Videos and now we have a partnership with them,” said Chung. He hopes that the audience attending his panel can leave with a sense of GIFs not just being a funny thing, but realizing the potential of them. “GIFs are still a mystery to people, so I want to make sure people see it the way we see it,” said Chung.
When and Where:
Monday, March 14
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Austin Convention Center – Room 18ABCD / 531 E 4th St
Find out more: Why GIFs?