Facebook has been notoriously slow to allow users to post GIFs, offering only half-assed support. But now, finally, that support has become full-assed. Here’s what you need to know, interspersed with GIFs to use on your Wall.
You just need to post the link.
Essentially, as long as a link ends in .GIF, Facebook seems to be able to load it and allow you to post it to your Wall. For example, you can just right-click on any of the GIFs in this post, put that in the box, and the GIF should be there.
It will take a minute to load the GIF, however, and I’ve found the loading can be a bit spotty at first. You’ll also want to clean up any cruft after the “.gif” prefix; some informal tests show Facebook’s algorithm is a bit spotty at reading it otherwise. Oh, and delete the link once the GIF loads; it’s just good form.
There’s a preview you can, and should, watch.
When you post the link, give it a minute to load. The preview will show you exactly what you’re posting on your Wall, and it’ll also confirm that the GIF loads and isn’t just sitting there. This will also be what your friends see.
Facebook is still rolling out support.
Pages don’t have this yet, and some users apparently don’t have functionality yet. Be patient! Soon, you’ll be able to troll your friends!
It doesn’t work in comments, yet.
Sadly, it does not appear to be working in comments, so you’ll still need to use words to express your feelings. Or stickers! Stickers also work!
It doesn’t work with Imgur, so far.
Annoyingly, I can’t seem to get Imgur GIFs to work. It’s not clear if that’s an issue with Facebook or Imgur, and either could be the culprit, but for now, you’ll have to resort to the rest of the Internet for GIFs. We’re sure that won’t be an issue.
(via Wired)