Internet gifs aren't just for the lols: Giphy wants to make money too

This changes everything | Money-spinning change is on the way to your emojis, gifs and TikToks, as companies like Giphy make plans to monetize animations and wacky videos set to music

By Annalee Newitz

MY TEXTING style is pretty salty. I curse a lot, generally in a friendly way, but my phone’s autocomplete functionality is really cramping my style. No, I didn’t mean “duck”. I wasn’t typing “fick”, “five”, “dock” or (when my poor algorithm gets desperate) “Fuchs”. You know what I wanted to say, dear reader, and it’s one of the most commonly spoken words in English. And yet I have to correct my phone’s autocorrection to write it.

I’m not the only one with this problem. Linguist Gretchen McCulloch, whose new book Because Internet is a fascinating exploration …