Sometimes the most succinct way to comment on the big events of the day is by posting a GIF, and we collectively shared billions of them in 2018. Tenor, one of the biggest GIF search engines in the world, has revealed a rundown of the top 10 GIF moments from the last 12 months. These were the days, outside of holidays, with the highest levels of GIF share activity. We’ve got the dates in question, along with the top trending search term and a popular related GIF for each one.
Founded in 2014, Tenor was acquired by Google back in March. With more than 300 million users worldwide, Tenor powers GIF search in some of the biggest apps around including WhatsApp, Twitter, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Gboard, and many others. There are more than 12 billion GIF searches on the platform in an average month, but searches spike around news that captures the public imagination. Let’s take a look back at the events that sent us in search of GIFs in 2018.
Thunder snow, March 7
An intense storm hit the Northeastern United States bringing heavy snow, coastal flooding, and perilous conditions. It left power outages and school and freeway closures in its wake.
Stephen Hawking, March 13
When beloved theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking died peacefully at home there was a great deal of sadness, but also an uplifting celebration of his life and achievements.
Walk it Talk it, March 22
The song Walk it Talk it from hip-hop trio Migos, featuring Canadian rapper Drake, was a hugely popular search term just a few days after it was released.
Masters, April 5
The day the Masters golf tournament teed off at Augusta saw a spike in GIF searches. American Patrick Reed went on to win his first major title there.
Tristan Thompson, April 12
Khloe Kardashian gave birth to a baby girl amid a scandal surrounding her boyfriend and father of the baby, NBA player Tristan Thompson, who was accused of cheating with multiple women.
R. Lee Ermey, April 16
When the legendary actor, known for his stunning performance as a hard-nosed drill instructor in Full Metal Jacket, died at the age of 74 the internet mourned.
Belgium, Neymar crying, July 6
Despite Brazil star Neymar’s theatrics in the World Cup quarterfinal against Belgium, he was left crying at the end of the match as Brazil crashed out and his diving became a popular meme.
Shiggy, July 10
When comedian Shiggy posted a video of himself dancing to Drake’s In My Feelings song it went viral and sparked countless copycats to take on the #InMyFeelingsChallenge.
Build a bear, July 12
Build-A-Bear Workshop offered customers the chance to buy any bear for the price of their child’s age, but the promotion was so successful they had to shut it down amid safety concerns.
Friends happy, December 4
There was such an uproar from subscribers about the prospect of sitcom Friends no longer being available on the streaming service in 2019 that Netflix paid $100 million to keep it.
