The Internet has always had a love-hate relationship with animated GIFs. Long a telltale sign of an archaic website (especially when multiple artifacts wind up on a single page), the bandwith-eating multi-image animations were a cause of annoyance rather then entertainment.
Well, the GIF’s reputation is changing. Since the meteoric rise of Tumblr, which boasts “GIF” as the website’s top tag, the animated images are snapping back into the mainstream and are becoming a popular form of shareable media. Users are flocking to GIFs to articulate their personal feelings, relive moments from their favorite movies and tv shows, and indulge in the rapidly expanding arena of shared references.
And where there’s digital media, there’s comedy. GIFs are becoming a popular way to spread humorous split-second scenes from real footage or popular media, whether it be a pratfall, reaction shot, or even a line of dialogue. We’ve rounded up the funniest trending themes and motifs of the GIF world and curated them into a shortlist of 10 major contenders. We also delved a little deeper to find the history behind the GIFs, and where you can find more of their meme-tastic entertainment.
Is there a GIF that tickles your funnybone? Let us know in the comments.
90s Characters Dancing
Whether it’s AC Slater dropping it like it’s hot on Saved by the Bell, Carlton busting his signature moves on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, or sitcom world’s token middle daughter Stephanie Tanner swagging in Full House, 90s dancing caused major lols in 2011.
Propagated this past year in particular by a healthy crop of 90s nostalgia Tumblrs, expertly clipped moments of television royalty shaking their tailfeathers in a variety of goofy ways (did you forget the Urkel dance?) adds a heaping helping of humor to remembering the good old days of TGIF.
Click here to view this gallery.
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