Google+ supports posting animated GIF profile picture
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While other social networks seem to be ignoring the resurgence of the popular GIF animated image format, Google+ seems to be embracing it wholeheartedly.
On Monday, Google’s social network gave users the ability to use GIFs as their profile picture. So if users add a GIF profile picture, their default image will be a looping animation.
“Like newspapers in Harry Potter :)” said Google’s Matt Steiner, who announced the new feature in a post Monday on Google+.
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Thumbnails won’t support the animation, but users will be able to see others’ GIF profile pictures when they go to their profile page. Google said GIF profile images don’t yet work on iOS Apple devices.
GIFs became popular in recent years thanks in large part to Tumblr, another social network that is popular with teens and young adults.
But while Tumblr and Google+ embrace GIFs, which have gained a cult-like following on the Internet, other social networks have been slow to embrace the format. You can upload a GIF image to Facebook, but it will be a static image rather than a looping animation. As for Twitter, it stopped letting users have GIF profile images last September.
Meanwhile, Google recently made it easier for users to look for GIF images by adding a filter on its image search tool that looks for animated images.
GifBoom and Cinemagram are two popular apps for users looking to turn an image into a GIF for use as a Google+ profile picture.
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