Those GIFs on Twitter Aren't Actually GIFs

When Twitter added support for animated GIFs earlier this week, there was no shortage of excitement and criticism from its user base.

Brands led the charge in the hours that followed, posting GIFs on GIFs (on GIFs). Others criticized Twitter for taking too long to roll out support for GIFs, a format that has been around since the 1980s - practically prehistoric by tech standards.

'Thanks for the final concession, Twitter, but the fact that it took you so long to add support for GIFs is a symptom of your larger problem, ReadWrite's Lauren Orsini wrote. (That problem being user growth.)

As it turns out, Twitter's support for GIFs may be slightly more advanced than originally thought. Once uploaded to Twitter, those GIFs are no longer GIFs: they are MP4 Files.

Twitter supports GIFs by automatically converting them to smaller, more user-friendly video files. Embedly found that MP4 files can be as little as 20% the size of the initial GIF, saving users data and helping with faster loading speeds. Twitter doesn't want users getting bogged down with high data charges or painfully slow downloads.

And unlike traditional GIFs, which play automatically and loop continuously, MP4 files have user controls like a start and pause button, giving users more control over the content.

So yes, Twitter supports GIFs, but those short videos in your timeline are not actually GIFs. They're an improved video format. That means while Twitter is late to the party, it brought a much fancier gift than they marketed it as.

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