GIFs would not have the presence or function they do without popular culture and the spread of that culture through the internet. Part of the reason that GIFs can potently describe someone’s reaction or feeling in a conversation is that are pulled from movies and TV shows that viewers are familiar with. It is not always necessary for a viewer to be familiar with the origin of the GIF that they are sent, but the meaning of the GIF is enhanced for the viewer when it is pulled from a piece of media that they have interacted with in the past and which already has meaning for them.

In Never Gonna GIF You Up, Miltner and Highfield quote Newman stating that, “GIFs are examples of vernacular creativity among groups of users with shared interests and reference points” (Newman 2016). While it is possible to understand the point of a GIF without being familiar with its original context, it is most effectively used among people who are familiar with it. The shared understanding of a piece of popular culture is important in most cases of GIF sharing. There are some GIFs created from videos taken by every-day individuals, but in my experience, the funniest GIFs are most often the ones that reference popular culture.

I experienced this earlier this week when I was texting some friends about a group dinner and sent them a GIF of Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation trying to throw a hamburger into his mouth. While that is a comical thing to see without any context, I knew that the comedy of the GIF would not be wasted on my friends because they had seen the TV show and knew the context behind the GIF. Interacting with media in this way has resulted in the development of a more active internalization of media and popular culture. Film is no longer just viewed and talked about, it is used as an expression of emotions in nuanced ways through the use of the GIF.