Relating, searching, and referencing: Assessing the appeal of using GIFs to communicate

Abstract

GIF scholarship largely focuses on GIF use in online spaces such as Tumblr, but few studies explore the motivations of GIF users in other communicative contexts, like text messaging or messaging apps. Through employing a combination of Q methodology and uses and gratifications (U&G) theory, this study explores why individuals use GIFs in their everyday communication. Three groups of GIF users were identified in the analysis: (a) GIF enthusiasts, (b) searchers and (c) referentialists. Subsequently, the motivations, attitudes and opinions of each group for using GIFs were explored by supplementing the quantitative data with qualitative responses that emerged from interviews with the participants. Although each group had motivations for using GIFs that mirrored previous scholarship – communicative power, emotive quality, humor, technical affordances and cultural connection – an additional motivator (i.e., relationship maintenance) emerged. As GIF scholarship develops, the present study will provide a foundational understanding of GIFs from a user perspective rather than from studies that were drawn from online spaces.