r/reactiongifs Launches

JAN 01 2010 · 12:00

A canonical reaction GIF of the kind that filled r/reactiongifs after its January 2010 launch, when the subreddit standardized the form on Reddit Place: Reddit Figures: Anonymous Reddit moderators · the early subscriber base of imageboard refugees On the first day of 2010 a subreddit called r/reactiongifs opens for business. The premise is simple to the point of being a tautology: post a looping animated image that captures a reaction; title it with the situation that reaction is for. The grammar already exists on imageboards and on Tumblr (see [[tumblr-launches-2007]]); the new thing is that a major US English-speaking general-interest platform now has a dedicated channel for it, indexed and votable. By 2013 the subreddit has over 500,000 subscribers. By 2020 it has 2.5 million. The reaction GIF, an unofficial language since 4chan's /b/, gets institutional shelf space on the front page of the internet.