Facebook Buys Giphy With Plans to Incorporate Into Instagram
Social media titan, Facebook acquires Giphy, a known site for GIFs, and is now planning to integrate it into Instagram. The popular animated images maker is going to be incorporated into the growing photo-sharing app owned by the company.
The technology company announced the news late last week in its blog post. The news also comes at a time where regulators heavily scrutinize and criticize the social media platform.
Five years ago, Giphy has already rebuffed the offer of the company. Reports say that it opted to continue integrating its own products to multiple social networking platforms.
Both Facebook and Giphy have reportedly declined to give further comments or details regarding the news.
Also, the exact amount paid by the social media platform wasn’t disclosed in the blog post. However, technology news reports estimate it to be around $400 million.
The animated image-maker plans to launch on Instagram and other Facebook-owned applications and platforms.
Vishal Shah, Instagram’s VP of Product said that Giphy’s developers and API partner can continue to access the website. Adding that Giphy’s creative community can still create GIFs on the site.
On a blog post, Giphy confirmed that it will still be openly available and it’s widening its ecosystem.
A spokesperson from the social media company also said that Giphy’s ties with Twitter, Snapchat, and Tiktok wouldn’t change. Adding that the GIFs wouldn’t have tracking mechanisms like pixels or even cookies aligned with privacy concerns.
The social media company has also claimed that most Giphy traffic comes from the platform.
Avatar Makers
Facebook is entering the avatar making game. It’s already evident in most social media platforms that cartoon-like avatars that can be customized are in trend.
Well, modern technology doesn’t always mean revolutionary creations. It could also encompass those simple things that make connecting even warmer.
Gone are the days were generic sad, happy, thumbs up, and other reactions are the only option in the platform.
The company is rolling out its avatar feature to its millions of users in the United States this week. Well, the feature is actually available in other countries so it’s about time that the platform launches it in America.
The feature is really similar to Snapchat’s Bitmoji and it will also allow users to create digital avatars of themselves. Facebook’s new avatar feature is applicable for both messenger and stories.
And thanks to the ongoing lockdown restriction, more people are scrolling through social media. This makes the launch’s timing very timely for the company and its users.
