Scrolling through your news feed on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter you’ll probably see a lot more moving content than a few years ago. There has been a huge surge in people sharing moving content online, interacting with friends and followers using animations, videos and GIFs.
Everyone is familiar with video, but what exactly is a GIF? The GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) was created in 1987 – probably a lot older than you thought it was! They are made from a series of frames or still images which are animated to form a short, soundless, looping animation.
GIF and video have seen a increase in popularity over the last few years with evidence suggesting that it improves engagement and metrics online. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit and Tumblr are all investing huge amounts to increase their bandwidths and make their platforms more video content-friendly, encouraging visitors to stop scrolling and interact with their content.
What makes GIFs and moving content so appealing?
- Emotional connection
There’s a reason people prefer to meet face to face rather than over the phone or text. It’s a lot easier for us to get a read on people’s emotions when we can see their faces.
Looking at any of the most popular GIFs of the last year, it’s not hard to see why they were popular, they go a long way to conveying some sort of emotion or feeling without using any words at all.
Videos and GIFs can capture an emotion or feeling that text, or a still image just can’t explain – which is why they are shared on social so much.
- Visual
Our dominant sense is sight. Not only do we process video about 60,000 times faster than text, but we are able to remember a lot more visual content than words. Maybe this explains why video and GIF has a lot higher engagement rate and leads to users spending more time on websites or profiles that feature moving content.
- Accessibility
As you’ve probably noticed, mobile devices are getting more and more sophisticated in terms of the tech in them. Compared to the phones of the 00’s video is much more viewable, and data is much more affordable. This means that moving content is viewed more regularly, in 2015 there were 8 billion daily video views on Facebook, a number which has continued to rise.
What does this mean for you?
If you are looking to hire a photo booth for your next event or activation then a photo booth that simply takes still photos is litterally just a starting point. All Mobile Photo Booth’s products have the capability of delivering GIF or video content to help improve your ROI. Check out our range here