Many a link-baiting slideshow and BuzzFeed post have been using animated GIFS, the moving images assembled from videos, sequences of photos or original animations.
But how did the initially cheesy, early computer and Internet age animation trick using a file format become the au courant method for obsessing over celebrities and being web-ready shorthand for expressing emotions? SXSW has the answer: According to the GIF artists and writers in “The Economy of the GIF,” you can blame your phone and microblogging platform Tumblr.
The GIF lineage goes something like this: they were first used in website banners and as quickie animations in those quaint AOL disc days of the Internet — and then Flash animation came along. Remember when websites resembled the futuristic, highly-interactive interfaces of science fiction films? With those slick drop-down menus and fancy moving ads? That was Flash.
Flash still exists, but with Apple and its iPhone (which famously does not support Flash-based animations or videos), web designers and animators and branding gurus had to rethink their media strategies. Suddenly, entire websites were rendered unreadable on phones and other mobile screens.
So as Flash fell out of fashion, simpler web designs prevailed and led to a GIF renaissance of sorts — because GIFs will still display on phones and tablets and other magic, mini computer devices. And it helps that social networking sites and phone web browsers have made using the Internet much more photo-centric (hence, Tumblr).
Plus, GIFs, says writer Lindsey Weber (who’s done some GIF work for BuzzFeed and New York magazine) are better representations of how we consume the Internet in 2013.
“[GIFs] span this space between photos and videos,” Weber says. “The GIF takes the best parts of a photo and the best parts of a video and puts them together. It’s just a better way to ingest that.”
And they’ve become so wildly popular, argues artist Jimmy Repeat (who’s GIFed for MTV in the past), they’ve become a new art form all in themselves.
“GIF is the new medium because it’s more of a challenge than a static image,” he says.
Perhaps their greatest claim to legitimacy is their looming legal precedent: Weber says GIF-related lawsuits and copyright cases are just around the bend — she’s come up against all kinds of rights issues with the GIFs she worked with.
But for now, there’s still plenty of GIF fun to be had. Just go on Tumblr and get lost for days.
more university rankings
2 Austin-area universities rank among the top 10 in Texas for 2026
The University of Texas at Austin and Georgetown's Southwestern University are maintaining their shining reputations among the top colleges in the U.S., according to a new batch of rankings from WalletHub.
WalletHub ranked The University of Texas at Austin as the No. 2 best university in Texas for 2026, and the 11th best university in the South. UT also ranked as the 58th best university in the country, a five spot drop from its 2024 ranking.
The personal finance website's experts analyzed nearly 800 colleges and universities in the U.S. using 30 key metrics, including factors like student-faculty ratios, graduation rates, campus safety, and many more.
UT Austin was sandwiched between two prestigious private institutions in WalletHub's statewide ranking: Houston's Rice University (No. 1) and Trinity University in San Antonio (No. 3). Rice also ranked as the 9th best university in the U.S. for 2026, while Trinity ranked No. 62 nationally, four spots behind UT.
UT was ranked across seven major categories in the report, and scored highly for its student educational outcomes (No. 63) and student selectivity (No. 74). The university earned fair rankings for its student career outcomes (No. 118) and campus safety (No. 187), but lagged behind for its cost and financing (No. 337), campus experience (No. 552), and faculty resources (No. 629).
U.S. News & World Report says tuition and fees at UT can add up to more than $11,000 per year for in-state students, with the total cost adding up to more than $32,000 when factoring in the price for housing, food, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.
Other Austin-area universities
Southwestern University ranked as the 7th best Texas university for 2026, the 36th best university in the South, and No. 117 nationally.
Here's how Southwestern University performed across the seven major categories in the report:
- No. 133 – Student selectivity
- No. 157 – Faculty resources
- No. 275 – Educational outcomes
- No. 371 – Career outcomes
- No. 381 – Campus safety
- No. 412 – Campus experience
- No. 627 – Cost and financing
Other Austin-area universities that landed on WalletHub's regional list of the best colleges in the South include St. Edward's University (No. 157), and Texas State University in San Marcos (No. 173).
The 10 best colleges and universities in Texas for 2026 are:
- No. 1 – Rice University, Houston
- No. 2 – The University of Texas at Austin
- No. 3 – Trinity University, San Antonio
- No. 4 – Texas A&M University-College Station
- No. 5 – Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
- No. 6 – Austin College, Sherman
- No. 7 – Southwestern University, Georgetown
- No. 8 – University of Dallas
- No. 9 – The University of Texas at Dallas
- No. 10 – University of Houston
