Giphy has claimed that they have brought the GIF to Facebook. Now, here were all were thinking our productivity just went out the window with the ability to scroll through automatically looping posts. But it's looking like that just isn't the case, much to our dismay. Mashable pointed out this horrible mistake to us on Aug. 29.
On their blog, Giphy announced, "We did it. GIFs on Facebook! Giphy’s got all the GIFs and now you can share them with your friends on Facebook. You can embed them right onto your timeline from our site." They even embedded a GIF of a GIF playing on a Facebook screen. So meta.
But sites were duped. Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch dutifully reported that we could enjoy looping GIFs on the social network and even Mashable reported on the success at first.. Though when Mashable figured out the error, they were apologetic
"Somewhere in the transition from the Giphy platform to Facebook, a conversion took place. This is not a GIF. I wish we’d realized this sooner. Mashable was among the many sites that proclaimed the GIF is back on Facebook. Sorry about that."
What Mashable found is that the file will not loop automatically since it has a Flash wrapper. So this means you won’t be able to automatically get a GIF to play. The viewer will have to hit the play button before anything starts happening.
Facebook previously allowed GIFs on the site, but took away the support and so far has no plans to bring it back. Many users look forward to the day where they can use a fully looping GIF as a reaction rather than a goofy emoticon about their feelings.
via Examiner National Edition Gadgets & Tech Channel Articles http://www.examiner.com/article/giphy-allows-almost-gifs-on-facebook-with-flash-wrapper?cid=roadrunner