The 2015 .GIFYs: Vote For The Best Of The Net's Favorite File Format

It's the year 2015 and everyone on the internet loves GIFs, right? Well, now it's time to vote for your favorites in The .GIFYs! As it stands, this the only award specifically for the silent, endlessly looping file format, but believe it or not, this is their second year of voting. In their own description, The .GIFYs say they are "the first and only award show honoring the animated GIF as a medium, social commentary and art form," but don't think it's all about prestige and high-brow, there's still cats. Lots of cats.

Submissions were collected at giphy.com from internet users far and wide, and were then narrowed down by a panel of self-described GIF lovers and experts. Voting on the website is open to anyone, and there are 11 categories to choose from, such as "film and TV," "can't look away," "weird," "animals," and even a stand alone for "cats." Because on the internet, cats always deserve their own category.

The spirit of the .GIFYs seems to be an award that for everybody, by everybody. In a press release, co-founder Chelsea O'Brien commented about how final voting on the best "should lie in the hands of those who create GIFS: everyone." Voting is open until February 24th.

The last year or so has seen an absolute explosion in popularity of the file format on the internet. Image hosting site Imgur both created an updated version, called a GIFV, which offers better quality and features that bring it closer to an actual video, as well as debuted their own GIF creation tool. Similarly, YouTube got in the game by quietly releasing a creation tool for their own videos, allowing users to choose part of a video to turn into a GIF, and even add text.

VIA Engadget

SOURCE The .GIFYs