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printcontentsfull screenprintYOUTUBER I 44
idea: using imagery to express
specific, nuanced emotions. Used
in this way, GIFs are more lan-
guage than art, and McWhorter
writes that, like art, “human
language has always and forever
been getting personal.” GIFs are
yet another example of how our
language is continually changing
with the advancement of time
and technology.WHEN WORDS FAIL
It can be difficult to adequately
express all our complex emotions
— how excited, upset or anxious
you are about something — over
a tweet or text. Attaching a GIF
of someone who looks or acts the
way you feel can serve as the visual
analogy needed to emphasize your
current emotional state, so every-
one knows precisely how happy
eating that pizza made you or how
stressed you are about that trigo-
nometry exam tomorrow.
Reaction GIFs help with clar-
ity in other ways, too. Spend any
amount of time on the internet or
texting a friend, and you’ll inevi-
tably experience a circumstance
where someone misinterprets
someone else’s words, projecting
an emotion that wasn’t there when
the author wrote them. Adding an
accompanying GIF of a pop culture
figure manifesting your exact
attitude instantly clears up any
possible confusion.
The phrase “thank you” can be
delivered casually, sarcastically,
with heartfelt sentiment or with
the air of triumphant validation,AN UNEXPECTED
COMPARISON
As they’ve increased in popularity, many platforms like Twitter and Ap-
ple Messages have added GIF search engines directly into their service.
Finding that perfect looping moment to express yourself is now only a
few taps away, furthering the GIF’s place in modern language. They’re
a quick, fun way of communicating nuanced emotions in a short visual
moment. In fact - — if I may get super pretentious for a minute — I’d
like to attempt a comparison between this modern use of reaction GIFs
and (hear me out) the Mona Lisa.GIFs are Improving Modern Language. Here’s How.
TRENDS
In “Words On The Move,” au-
thor and linguist John McWhort-
er explains how medieval paint-
ings often feature people whose
faces lack any expression. They
are stoic subjects who refrain
from displaying anything other
than the broadest of emotions.
“It would never have occurred to
a painter like Giotto to depict the
full range of human expressions,”
McWhorter writes. “Art was less
about you, him, or her than about
that: grander things such as re-
ligion and commemoration. We
cherish the Mona Lisa as one of
the heralds of the new era, with
that smile we can imagine some-
one curling into near the middle
of a good first date.”
Art moved from grand and
broad to individualistic and
personal. Reaction GIFs, then,
are a logical progression of this383 009 Trends - Gifs .indd 44 2/19/19 2:58 PMYOUTUBER I 45
Scott Niswander is a contagious learner. Bow-tie wearer. Host of
Comic Misconceptions on NerdSync.idea: using imagery to express
specific, nuanced emotions. Used
in this way, GIFs are more lan-
guage than art, and McWhorter
writes that, like art, “human
language has always and forever
been getting personal.” GIFs are
yet another example of how our
language is continually changing
with the advancement of time
and technology.WHEN WORDS FAIL
It can be difficult to adequately
express all our complex emotions
— how excited, upset or anxious
you are about something — over
a tweet or text. Attaching a GIF
of someone who looks or acts the
way you feel can serve as the visual
analogy needed to emphasize your
current emotional state, so every-
one knows precisely how happy
eating that pizza made you or how
stressed you are about that trigo-
nometry exam tomorrow.
Reaction GIFs help with clar-
ity in other ways, too. Spend any
amount of time on the internet or
texting a friend, and you’ll inevi-
tably experience a circumstance
where someone misinterprets
someone else’s words, projecting
an emotion that wasn’t there when
the author wrote them. Adding an
accompanying GIF of a pop culture
figure manifesting your exact
attitude instantly clears up any
possible confusion.
The phrase “thank you” can be
delivered casually, sarcastically,
with heartfelt sentiment or with
the air of triumphant validation,and there are plenty of GIFs available to make your
specific intention clear (many of which originate
from The Office).
As our technology evolves, so too does the way we
communicate with one another. Animated GIFs have
evolved from a fun file format to an exciting and
evolving part of modern language. They say a picture
is worth a thousand words. Imagine all that can be
expressed with these quirky bundles of looping im-
ages bursting with personality.GIFs are Improving Modern Language. Here’s How.
TRENDS
In “Words On The Move,” au-
thor and linguist John McWhort-
er explains how medieval paint-
ings often feature people whose
faces lack any expression. They
are stoic subjects who refrain
from displaying anything other
than the broadest of emotions.
“It would never have occurred to
a painter like Giotto to depict the
full range of human expressions,”
McWhorter writes. “Art was less
about you, him, or her than about
that: grander things such as re-
ligion and commemoration. We
cherish the Mona Lisa as one of
the heralds of the new era, with
that smile we can imagine some-
one curling into near the middle
of a good first date.”
Art moved from grand and
broad to individualistic and
personal. Reaction GIFs, then,
are a logical progression of this383 009 Trends - Gifs .indd 45 2/19/19 2:58 PM