Instagram is on a mission to make comments more engaging. The latest weapon in their arsenal: GIF comments! That‘s right, you can now post GIFs in the comments of feed posts, bringing a new level of fun and creativity to conversations on the platform.
However, many eager users rushing to try out this new feature are finding that the option to post GIF comments is nowhere to be found. Confusion and mild chaos has ensued. "Where‘s my GIF button?!" "Why can‘t I post GIFs on Insta yet?" "How do I unlock this?"
If you‘ve found yourself asking these questions, don‘t worry, you‘re not alone. In this post, we‘ll break down exactly what‘s going on with Instagram‘s GIF comment rollout, why you may not have the feature yet, and what you can do about it.
But first, let‘s rewind for a second. GIFs, which stands for Graphics Interchange Format, have become a ubiquitous part of social media and online communication. These short, looping, animated images are incredibly versatile for quickly conveying reactions, emotions, jokes, and memes.
GIFs have been around since 1987 but they‘ve exploded in popularity in the last decade with the rise of smartphones, messaging apps, and social media. By 2016, Twitter reported that over 100 million GIFs were shared on the platform every day. Tenor, one of the top GIF platforms, serves over 12 billion GIF search requests per month. And in 2020, Giphy, the largest GIF database, was acquired by Meta (formerly Facebook), bringing its vast library of GIF content under the same roof as Instagram.
So it‘s really no surprise that Instagram wants to bring the power of GIFs to comments on feed posts. The platform first introduced GIF stickers in Stories back in 2018, allowing users to jazz up their photos and videos with animated overlays. Since then, GIF sticker usage in Stories has grown by 40% year-over-year.
With the GIF comment feature, Instagram is looking to bring that same level of engagement to feed posts. When the option is available, you‘ll see a new "GIF" icon when commenting on a post. Tap it and you can browse trending GIF content or search Giphy‘s extensive database to find the perfect GIF to express your reaction. Select the GIF and it gets posted as a comment for everyone to enjoy.
Sounds great! So…how do I get it? If you‘re reading this, chances are you‘ve already checked your Instagram app and found that the GIF comment button is missing. Here‘s why that might be:
Instagram is rolling out GIF comments slowly and in stages
As with any major new feature, Instagram rolls things out gradually to manage load on its infrastructure and catch any bugs early. When Instagram first launched Reels, for example, it was initially only available in 50 countries before expanding globally a month later.
GIF comments appear to be following a similar phased rollout. Instagram first started testing the feature among a small group of users in July 2022. Since then, they‘ve been slowly expanding access to more and more accounts. But the rollout is still ongoing, and not everyone has it yet.
You may need to update your Instagram app
New features like GIF comments often require the latest version of the Instagram app to work. So if you‘re not seeing the option, your first step should be to check if you have any pending app updates available.
On iOS, open the App Store, tap your profile icon in the top right, and scroll down to see if Instagram is listed in the Upcoming Automatic Updates or Available Updates section. If so, tap Update to install the latest version.
On Android, open the Google Play Store app, tap the profile icon, then Manage apps & device. Under the Updates available section, look for Instagram and tap Update if you see it.
If Instagram isn‘t showing any available updates, you‘re likely already running the latest version. In that case, not having GIF comments yet probably just means the feature hasn‘t been rolled out to your account.
It‘s probably just not your turn yet
At the end of the day, Instagram is rolling out this feature slowly to different groups of users over time. There doesn‘t seem to be much rhyme or reason to who has access and who doesn‘t at this point. Some users have reported GIF comments showing up seemingly randomly on their accounts with no warning.
Instagram may also be running A/B tests on the feature, turning it on for a subset of accounts and comparing engagement metrics against a control group to gauge the impact. So even among accounts that do have access, some users might have a slightly different GIF comment experience than others.
The bottom line is, if you don‘t have GIF comments yet, sit tight! There‘s unfortunately no magic trick to force the feature to show up on your account. You‘ll likely get access within the next few weeks or months as the rollout continues, so keep an eye out for that GIF button to appear.
Why the radio silence from Instagram?
One odd wrinkle in this rollout is that Instagram hasn‘t made any official announcement or statement about GIF comments being in testing or gradually rolling out. The feature was first spotted in the wild by eagle-eyed users and social media consultants, but Instagram has yet to post anything about it on their official blog, help site, or social media accounts.
This isn‘t totally unusual, as Instagram often runs tests and experiments quietly in the background. But it is a bit strange given the visibility and popularity of the feature. The lack of official information has certainly contributed to the confusion around why GIF comments are showing up for some accounts but not others.
Until Instagram decides to communicate more publicly about the rollout, we‘ll have to rely on crowdsourced reports and anecdotes to piece together the details. But rest assured, GIF comments are real and coming to an Instagram account near you… eventually.
The future of engaging comments
Looking beyond GIF comments, it‘s clear that Instagram is investing heavily in making conversations on the platform more engaging and expressive.
Instagram‘s parent company Meta has made some key acquisitions to further this mission. In 2020, Meta acquired Giphy, the largest GIF database and search engine, for a reported $400 million. And in 2022, Meta bought Kustomer, a customer service platform that helps businesses manage conversations across multiple channels including social media.
These deals give Instagram even more tools and resources to build out comment features and help brands and creators engage with their audiences. Imagine being able to search for and send GIFs right within Instagram DMs for example, or having AI suggest relevant GIF replies to comments on your post.
GIFs are really just the beginning. Instagram has already brought music stickers, polls, and Q&A features to Stories, giving users more ways to interact. Memes, stickers, and other formats will likely find their way into feed posts and comments over time as well. The platform may take inspiration from other apps like Snapchat, TikTok and WhatsApp that already offer playful visual elements to spice up messages.
The key will be balancing expressiveness and engagement with clarity and accessibility. GIFs can sometimes be difficult for people with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities to understand, so Instagram will need to consider things like alt-text and long image descriptions. GIFs can also take on unintended meanings or be used in harassing ways. Having strong content moderation and user controls will be critical to keep the GIF comment experience positive.
Despite the challenges, the potential upside is huge. GIFs and other rich media elements make conversations more human and relatable. A Tenor study found that people who use GIFs are 30% more likely to elicit a response than those who don‘t. GIFs also transcend language barriers and drive 60% more clicks and engagement compared to text.
So while the GIF invasion of Instagram comments may feel a bit clumsy and chaotic right now, stick with it. Before long, we‘ll all be fluent in the language of looping animations, and wondering how we ever got by with mere words and emojis. The future of engaging comments is bright… and animated.
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