GfyCat Shuts Down
GfyCat was one of the most popular sites for user-generated short video content, with over 75 million users and over 25 billion gifts at its peak. Its closure is a reminder that nothing lasts forever online and that people should always back up or preserve their digital creations. The shutdown also raises questions about the fate of the extensive archive of memes and other viral videos hosted by the site, including those that have since been taken down.
GifCat was founded in 2013 by Richard Rabbat, Dan McEleney, and Jeff Harris and became a company in 2015. The site offered a web platform for uploading and hosting short video content, along with an iMessage app, Android app, and GIF Brewery macOS application for creating GIFs and videos. It also integrated with platforms like Reddit, Tango, Microsoft Outlook, and WordPress.
Despite these perks, it was recently revealed that the GfyCat website suffered from numerous issues that ultimately led to its demise. In May, Motherboard reported that Snap had allowed the site's security certificates to expire, which made it temporarily inaccessible for most internet users. It was later discovered that the site had been suffering from years of instability, with broken uploads and a lack of response from support representatives.
Despite its downfall, the popularity of other GIF hosting sites such as Giphy and Tenor will likely continue. Until those sites close, the reaction GIFs and other content stored on the site will remain broken context for many forum threads and discussions across the web.