Facebook is finally rolling out official support for GIFs

[Shawn Knight]

It’s hard to believe that the world’s largest social network is only now getting around to (re)adding support for GIFs. Well, kind of.

You can now add a link to a GIF found on the Internet to your status update and when posted, it’ll appear animated just as it should. Links from any site should work meaning treasure troves like Imgur and Tumblr are both fair game. Early reports recommend you use the full URL of a GIF instead of a shortened URL version.

Unfortunately, it’s still not possible to upload a GIF directly to the site. Doing so will simply convert the animated image into a static picture, thus defeating its purpose.

The added functionality is rolling out as of writing so if it’s not working for you just yet, hang tight. There’s an animated GIFs group on Facebook that you can check out to see if the update has reached your neck of the woods yet.

While news for many, it’s actually been possible to post animated GIFs on Facebook for a while. Perhaps the most popular option is Giphy, a GIF database that rolled out a solution back in 2013 to let Facebook users embed GIFs in their status updates.

Up to this point, Facebook has avoided GIFs altogether as the site felt it would make News Feeds “too chaotic.” The site did allow GIFs in its very early days but ultimately removed support many years ago before it got popular.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/60835-facebook-finally-rolling-out-official-support-gifs.html

 

[DelJo63]

Beyond belief; can't upload??? who does this stuff for them. SHEZ(n)

 

[bexwhitt]

You need flash enabled to play gifs so it's a bit pointless

 

[cliffordcooley]

Why bother this late in the game?

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Why bother this late in the game?

Better late than never but ultimately they've probably had to buckle under the pressure. It will probably prove to be a hit with the teeny boppers though, they tend to like this type of nonsense.

 

[VitalyT]

On related subject, when will TechSpot add support for GIF avatars?

Also, It would be nice if avatars here were a little bigger.

 

[DelJo63]

You need flash enabled to play gifs so it's a bit pointless

hogwash! animated gifs run when displayed, even in pure html - - they were one of the earliest forms of motion and this is an animated gif

 

[DeWeller]

Oh, old school's coming back on Facebook? ))