Facebook is buying Giphy – the company responsible for bringing you GIFs. The GIF-making app and website will be acquired for $400 million, according to Axios.
Giphy is one of the biggest GIF making sites in the internet. It offers tools for creating, remixing and sharing GIFs.
Facebook already uses Giphy’s API to supply GIFS to its social media platforms; Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram.
According to Facebook, its user data drives 50 percent traffic to GIFs, half of that from Instagram. However, other social media sites also such as Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit and Slack also source their GIFs from Giphy. So it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Once the deal is done, Giphy will be under Instagram’s team and integrated fully into the social media platforms to enable users send GIFs and stickers in DMs and stories. Facebook and Whatsapp will not experience any difference, except for the additional access in Instagram.
A number of privacy concerns have been raised by various analysts regarding to the visual surveillance on various social media. Unless otherwise, Facebook will now be able to access user data from Slack, Twitter, Reddit and Pinterest users, and any other platform that uses Giphy.
According to Instagram’s VP of Product, Vipal Shah, “People will still be able to upload GIFs; developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to Giphy’s APIs, and Giphy’s creative community will still be able to create great content.”
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