Twitter Just Did Something Actually Incredible

trust, you’re gonna love this

Recent historical moments of importance notwithstanding, Twitter has been suffering as of late. They’ve shed executives, their stock has the flu, and American Millennials—the money demo for any social platform—just aren’t using enough to make it a financial success. Things have gotten so desperate over there, that the company is openly considering ditching its defining 140-character limit and allowing users enough space to print novellas. It’s dire. 

But today we forget all that. Today we celebrate. Today is the day that we heard that Twitter is currently testing a GIF button that will allow you to search for and add those little moving expressions of your inner feels easily and seamlessly. Blessed are we all. This is how we feel right now.

One simply presses the button, adds in search terms (i.e. “sad rabbit” or “dancing crab”) and options supplied from the massive archives of Riffsy and Giphy pop up. Select one, add your caption, and you have GIFed the Twittersphere. It’s exactly the same sort of function that Tinder just launched the other week. It would fix the longstanding problem that required users to add GIFs and other visuals via the Media function—a cumbersome method which took time, didn't always work, and, most importantly, wasn't fun.

Again, Twitter is testing the button and it's only available to select users at this stage. However, the level of functionality here suggests that yes, indeed, you will have access to it in the coming months (if not weeks).

Now, will this save Twitter? Oh, gosh, it’s so hard to tell at this stage. Certainly it’s an exciting addition to the platform that allows for expression, and that’s always a good thing. It’s completely unclear, however, if such additions will stem or reverse the platform's recent slide. Sure, we’ll be using this all day long. But will you? More importantly, will Jaden? Only time will tell.

(The Independent)