#GIFeels

Animated GIFs are increasingly popular in text-based communication. Like other forms of nonverbal communication, animated GIFs are susceptible to open interpretation. We explore whether people have different interpretations of animated GIFs, how those interpretations differ, and what factors impact the degree of difference. Through an online survey, we solicited people’s interpretations of a sample of GIFs, and analyzed the variance in sentiment based on the emotions participants used to describe GIFs. We find diverse interpretations of GIFs, and that duration of GIFs has a significant impact on interpretation. Positive GIFs also have more variance in interpretation than negative GIFs. Overall, we show that there is potential for miscommunication in animated GIFs, and animated GIFs may be a more nuanced form of nonverbal communication than emoticons and emoji.

Publications

1. CSCW

   "The Perfect One": Understanding Communication Practices and Challenges with Animated GIFs Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Casey Fiesler, and Jed R. Brubaker
   Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 2, CSCW: Article 80

   • Abstract
   • PDF
   • Reference
   • BibTeX
   • DOI: 10.1145/3274349
   Jialun "Aaron" Jiang, Casey Fiesler, and Jed R. Brubaker. 2018. "The Perfect One": Understanding Communication Practices and Challenges with Animated GIFs. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 2, CSCW: Article 80. https://doi.org/10.1145/3274349

   @article{Jiang2018-gif,
     title = {"{The} {Perfect} {One}": {Understanding} {Communication} {Practices} and {Challenges} with {Animated} {GIFs}},
     volume = {2},
     number = {CSCW},
     journal = {Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction},
     author = {Jiang, Jialun "Aaron" and Fiesler, Casey and Brubaker, Jed R.},
     year = {2018},
     pages = {Article 80},
     doi = {10.1145/3274349},
     tags = {gifeels}
   }
   

   Animated GIFs are increasingly popular in text-based communication. Finding the perfect GIF can make conversations funny, interesting, and engaging, but GIFs also introduce potentials for miscommunication. Through 24 in-depth qualitative interviews, this empirical, exploratory study examines the nuances of communication practices with animated GIFs to better understand why and how GIFs can send unintentional messages. We find participants leverage contexts like source material and interpersonal relationship to find the perfect GIFs for different communication scenarios, while these contexts are also the primary reason for miscommunication and some technical usability issues. This paper concludes with a discussion of the important role that different types of context play in the use and interpretations of GIFs, and argues that nonverbal communication tools should account for complex contexts and common ground that communication media rely on.

2. CHILate-breaking work

   Understanding Diverse Interpretations of Animated GIFs Jialun “Aaron” Jiang, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler
   CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Extended Abstracts

   • Abstract
   • PDF
   • Poster
   • Reference
   • BibTeX
   • DOI: 10.1145/3027063.3053139
   Jialun “Aaron” Jiang, Jed R. Brubaker, and Casey Fiesler. 2017. Understanding Diverse Interpretations of Animated GIFs. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Extended Abstracts, 1726–1732. https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053139

   @inproceedings{Jiang2017,
     address = {New York, New York, USA},
     author = {Jiang, Jialun “Aaron” and Brubaker, Jed R. and Fiesler, Casey},
     booktitle = {CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2017), Extended Abstracts},
     doi = {10.1145/3027063.3053139},
     isbn = {9781450346566},
     keywords = {gifeels},
     tags = {gifeels},
     pages = {1726--1732},
     publisher = {ACM Press},
     title = {{Understanding Diverse Interpretations of Animated GIFs}},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053139},
     year = {2017},
     pubtype = {Late-breaking work}
   }
   

   Department of Information Science Animated GIFs are increasingly popular in text-based communication. Like other forms of nonverbal communication, animated GIFs are susceptible to open interpretation. We explore whether people have different interpretations of animated GIFs, how those interpretations differ, and what factors impact the degree of difference. Through an online survey, we solicited people’s interpretations of a sample of GIFs, and analyzed the variance in sentiment based on the emotions participants used to describe GIFs. We find diverse interpretations of GIFs, and that duration of GIFs has a significant impact on interpretation. Positive GIFs also have more variance in interpretation than negative GIFs. Overall, we show that there is potential for miscommunication in animated GIFs, and animated GIFs may be a more nuanced form of nonverbal communication than emoticons and emoji.

Blog

• Do You Really Know Your GIFs? Aaron Jiang · September 26, 2018