Gregory's Server
@smxi I can't say I disagree, but if a platform/service/whatever wants a meaningful market share they have to give the masses what they want - and the masses demand animated things and graphics in their chats. And to be fair, some things are much more easily conveyed with a suiting gif (although it can also make an unbelievable mess of a large group chat, but people seem to not care).
@macberg Memes, reaction GIFs etc is in some way a language itself. They can express a lot more than text smileys, which is what they compete with. You can paraphrase all that with plain text, but that makes you depend stronger on certain natural languages. Memes and GIFs are more based on shared culture than shared language.