Death to animated GIFs!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 12:54pm

There needs to be the equivalent of a swear jar here on BWW for people who bog down non-GIF related threads with animated GIFs that generally express such unique sentiments as "No kidding," "You're dumb!" or "Oh no, you didn't."

If a poster can't find a way to accurately express her or his sentiments in his or her own words, then maybe they're not important enough to express. It's essentially telling the world, "This sub-Kardashian person flipping its hair is more articulate than I am!" and that should be embarrassing. Now, of course, people will post GIFs in this thread, but I think they should be required to put five dollars in the BWW GIF Jar to be donated to BC/EFA at the end of the year.

"Oh, yes I just WENT THERE!" exclaims some Cartoon Network creature no viewer has ever seen before.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 12:59pm

I'm not going to post a gif here like others will, but why do you have it so much? (To me) It seems like just a fun internet-y way to say something and be hopefully amusing at the same time.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:08pm

I have seen times when there is one that is so PERFECT that I can see how it seduces people into thinking even more of them would be even better. Once that idea spreads it's like the fake Russian chick who used to troll here and then disappeared a couple of days before mikey quietly returned to the main board: they start to come across as the lazy rejoinder of somebody who can't find the time or the skill to write something on their own. After that goes on for a while the GIFs start to drift to things that don't even seem to have anything to do with the discussion at hand, and eventually said "discussion" just becomes a bandwidth heavy game of cut and paste in the Image Link box. Eventually, the only way to ignore them, which is the usual advice around her for things that bug individuals, is to no longer return to the threads. I hate to see worthwhile discussion threads devolve into a giant mosaic of animated GIFs. I know that's just me, but I wanted to express the sentiment.

[DAME]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:21pm

Namo I am with you on this 120%. They are so boring and uncreative. If a thread is covered in these I usually skip them.

[Jane2]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:23pm

Yes, and how about the ones that aren't even the right reaction?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:34pm

I use them sometimes in regular threads, usually in reaction to something stupid being said. I think a gif of Thora Bitch rolling her eyes conveys my thoughts better than I can express sometimes.

[Jane2]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:47pm

I get a kick out of the good ones!

[DAME]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:50pm

If they are good and really reflective of what is being talked about. But it really has reached a level of stupidity and laziness with some. And now that we have been going back and looking at the old threads and how we used to really participate and talk to each other... makes me dislike the gifs even more.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 1:56pm

I think the gif thread was funny up until when people started to just post pictures of guys stripping...

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 2:12pm

" I know that's just me, but I wanted to express the sentiment."

Obviously you aren't. One here and there is great, but they are WAY overused.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 2:36pm

Agree 100 percent Namo

[trentsketch]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 3:55pm

Gifs are an internet-specific form of communication at this point. Used well, they're brilliant. Used poorly, they're irritating. Most uses fall in between these two extremes. I take my time when I'm selecting a gif and only use it if I think my post is helped by it.

I'm trying to think if I've ever used a gif on BroadwayWorld. I'm leaning toward no. The only thing I could think of would be to use one of those YouTube to gif sites to animate a relevant part of a theater video to discuss in a thread. Like, if I wanted to talk about the precision choreography in "Don't Let It Rain" from Henry, Sweet Henry, I can use the Ed Sullivan Show video, clip it to the girls walking in time during the staccato sequence, and post it with a comment on the choreography.

Otherwise, it's all for snark around here and I prefer to use my words to sass someone.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 4:05pm

I'm not a fan of the really snarky ones, but I do use Gifs now and them. They're fun when they're appropriate, but I do understand those who don't appreciate them and I agee that they shouldn't substitute genuine discussions, as Dame pointed out.

That being said, I don't agree that it's a lazy habit as I have spent sometimes close to fiveteen minutes looking for the right one. I'm with Jordan on this one, sometimes an image is the best way to express what you're feeling.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 4:09pm

And that's close to 15 minutes of your life that you will never get back.

[tazber]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 4:12pm

First world problems

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 4:14pm

I love you, FindingNamo.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 4:41pm

But seriously though, sometimes something like this



says more to a post than you could ever say with words.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 4:44pm

Or this...

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 4:48pm

Especially in response to AfterEight.

[tazber]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 5:03pm

I do enjoy the random posting of them in the "....Mean" thread. Some of them people find and share in that thread are hilarious.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 9:15pm

Especially in response to AfterEight.

Ooh, and he hates them.

I personally promise no more gifs outside of the Gif thread unless it's a meltdown

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 10:32pm

Yeah, I'm with Namo on this 100 percent.

It's like those Facebook and Twitter apps that auo-generate humorous status updates.

How sad is that???

It's for people who can't come up with an original thought on their own, so they have to copy/paste something from an outside source to land a wisecrack for them.

Even if I do occasionally laugh at the GIF or some other copy/paste job, I still think it's says a lot about the inabilities of the person who posted it, especially if I see them do it often.

It quickly turns from "ha-ha" to "is that really the best you can do?"

Updated On: 6/1/13 at 10:32 PM

[SNAFU]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 10:44pm

I love checking into the Why are people here so mean thread to see the gifs. I also hate seeing them in other threads. There is a time and a place. There was a certain Russian Sex worker who loved using them to piss people off.

[Jane2]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 10:51pm

Hmm, I don't see it as a way for people to avoid having to have an original thought, or something to that effect. I see it as a clever way to express a reaction which conveys the feeling much more efficiently than words could do. I'm able to construct a meaningful sentence but if I knew how to post a gif, I would!

[Master Bates]

Posted: 6/1/13 at 10:53pm

Seems as if someone's on a downward spiral Updated On: 6/1/13 at 10:53 PM