GIF Conversations

Have you ever heard of a GIF conversation? I'm not sure if they are a prominent thing, but they sure are interesting and I love engaging in them. My group of friends and I all share a chat and we frequently rely on GIFs to continue a conversation. Sometimes it's an occasional GIF here and there, but sometimes the entire conversation will take place only using GIFs. I tried to screen capture some examples from my phone to represent what I mean, but I was unable to do so, unfortunately.

GIF conversations are pretty neat because there are some rules and expectations in play in order to use them effectively. In order to use a GIF in a conversation, it has to fit properly. For instance, you can't be talking about video games and then drop a GIF about a panda swiping a ton of stuff off the table. Well, that could actually work if you used it right, but you get the point. The GIF has to be able to carry on the conversation and be relatable, otherwise it won't be received well by the other end of the conversation and you might look like a fool.

The GIF also has to make sense in order to use them correctly. If you drop in a GIF that references something and the other person doesn't understand it, then the GIF is lost on them and the conversation will either stop or awkwardly continue. This is kind of a hard thing to do because typically the GIF relies on the words that are scripted onto it, but there are times when you're mostly focusing on the reference that the GIF is making and that heavily depends on if the other person knows what you are referencing in order for it to play out smoothly.

Lastly, you don't always want to use GIF conversations. It's definitely one of those things where you want to use it sparingly so as not to bog down the conversation to only using GIFs for a long period of time. Sometimes this works out perfectly and you and your conversation partners are able to pick out the perfect GIFs to make a conversation happen, but most times that doesn't work out. Not to mention searching for the right GIF can be difficult and can make people not want to respond after a while. So there are plenty of rules and expectations to keep in mind when using GIFs in a conversation and I think that alone makes GIFs and interesting form of language.