Facebook plans to take over the GIF sharing platform Giphy for around $ 400 million. This creates a number of problems.
What happened?
The social media giant Facebook announced on Friday that it plans to buy the GIF sharing platform Giphy for $ 400 million. Even who the Giphy website has never visited, it is unavoidable to encounter their content in various other places on the Internet. Many well-known apps such as Apple’s iMessage, Tiktok and Twitter make use of Giphy’s offer.
According to the platform, which was founded in 2013, around 700 million people use content loaded on Giphy every day. These are small, animated images that are often intended to accompany text messages, spread memes or simulate reactions that are otherwise difficult to communicate.
Why can that be a problem?
Giphy is to be integrated on Instagram, which is also part of Facebook. “Bringing Instagram and Giphy together makes it easier for users to find the perfect GIFs and stickers for their stories and direct messages,” said Vishal Shah, vice president of Instagram, according to one Message.
This could be problematic for other apps that have previously integrated Giphy content. It can therefore be assumed that certain providers will shy away from continuing to use a service that is now backed by an internet giant like Facebook. This is not least because Facebook has repeatedly struggled with the privacy problems of its users in the past. Depending on the platform, the way we send GIFs could soon change significantly.
Are all Zuckerberg GIFs deleted now?
Shortly after the announcement of the sale, a rumor spread that Giphy would now have to delete all GIFs from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. This is not true, Giphy’s head of content said on Twitter: “That’s not true. We only delete content that violates our guidelines.”
Even if Facebook will not delete Zuckerberg GIFs in the future, the question arises how the company will deal with moderating the Giphy content. Because the Facebook guidelines regarding content are a lot stricter than those of the GIF platform. Many of the images that can be found there come directly from copyrighted films or series. How Facebook will deal with this content is still unclear.
What does Facebook say about the deal?
According to Facebook, users and providers of other services will continue to be able to use Giphy as usual. “People will still be able to upload GIFs, developers will still have the same access to the platform as before, and the Giphy community will be able to share their great creations on the platform as usual,” said Vishal Shah of Instagram.
So far, no cookies have been collected on Giphy or so-called trackers have been used. Although the platform could see the search terms entered, the personal data of the users always remained private. Now Facebook has promised that this will continue to be the case in the future. However, there are no guarantees that this will not change at some point. In addition, with the integration of Giphy, Facebook can gather useful information about user habits anywhere on the Internet, such as Wired.com reported.
Which apps are affected?
One of the most used services that has integrated Giphy content is Apple’s iMessages. If you send GIFs via this platform, you will find a lot of Giphy content in the selection in the picture gallery. So far it is not clear how Apple will react to the sale of the GIF platform.
Social media apps like Snapchat, Tiktok and Twitter also work with images from Giphy. How these companies will position themselves regarding the Facebook purchase is unclear. At Tiktok, however, users can already register with their Facebook login, which could indicate that Tiktok is more open to the American platform. This looks different on Twitter. The company has been in a dispute with Facebook for a long time. For example, Twitter blocked access to Instagram’s software interfaces (APIs) in 2012 after Instagram was bought up by Facebook.
Slack was used as a means of communication in many offices before the time of social distancing, but has now gained some popularity again. GIFs shared through this platform also come directly from Giphy. Loud Theverge.com Slack will continue to protect the privacy of its users who send GIFs.
Another messaging app that uses Giphy content is Signal. The platform attaches great importance to the privacy of its users and repeatedly emphasizes that the messages that are sent via signal are encrypted end-to-end. Signal’s founder has signed up for the Giphy sale on Twitter. He writes, “Now that Facebook has bought Giphy, many are asking if we are concerned about Giphy search. But Signal is already using an approach to GIF search that protects users’ privacy.”
GIFs are also meaningful if you do not know the person you are talking to well. Therefore, users on Tinder regularly use Giphy content. How the dating platform is set up to buy Facebook is not known.
What is a GIF?
GIF is an abbreviation for Graphic Interchange Format. Although the advent of GIFs looks like a new phenomenon, they have been around for 30 years. A GIF consists of a series of images that make up a short video. There is a big argument about how the word GIF is actually pronounced. While many use a soft G, the inventor of the GIFs said that the word should be pronounced more like “Tschiff”.
