In general, community remains at the hearts of what makes the porn GIF such a singular, long-lasting genre of adult entertainment — no matter where it ultimately lives. That was especially true with Tumblr, the platform that originally popularized the porn GIF. You could endlessly scroll through an account that fit your taste or hashtags that introduced you to new types of porn. At least, before Tumblr torpedoed itself by banning all adult content from the platform. That’s why, “at the moment, I do think Reddit is a perfect platform for GIFs, mainly based on its support for many media file types. I like Reddit's upvoting system, too, as it attributes a clear ‘score’ of how good a GIF is.” The Tumblr porn GIF didn’t make you trudge through any cheesy storylines or cringe-y forced setups. It immediately engaged you, earning people's reblogs and upvotes by being universally tantalizing. It’s a format that fits the fast pace of internet culture way better than regular, full-length porn videos — which seem like a relic of the past, when XXX adult VHS tapes were the most high-tech method of getting off. For the Footprince, the best porn GIF has three requirements: good color/lighting, smooth as butter frame rate, and replay value with a hypnotic effect. “What I find so incredible is the porn GIF's permeability. It has infiltrated absolutely every medium that allows it."

Despite the loss of Tumblr, the porn GIF is still only growing more popular according to our sources. The Footprince believes this is in part due to the “boon of tools available to make GIFs today.” Before, you needed at least some basic video editing capabilities. But now, through mobile apps like Inshot, Gifmaker Editor, and Video Collage, “My phone is more powerful than my computer at making GIFs, which blows my mind.” There are subreddits for certain fetishes, but they rarely seem to dominate in subreddit size or upvotes. It seems that the general population’s tastes are kinda vanilla,” said 88Remmer. My world was changed after I first saw GIFs on Tumblr. I certainly think that it changed the game for porn, too. It added a new, different dimension,” he said. “What makes GIFs so perfect in today's age of fast consumerism is that they're so bite-size. Tumblr's timeline was busy! And it was built upon endless scrolling, which means that you had to hook your audience and followers within the first instant.”

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When the GIF became the internet’s preferred visual language, it simultaneously became the preferred lust language for many consumers of adult entertainment. Small porn videos or snippets are essentially an evolved form of the GIF,” said the Digital Pimp. “When we talk of GIFs, we aren't really talking about just .gif files anymore. It's .mp4, and whatever else. Some even have sound now.” Porn stars are actually starting to post their own homemade GIFs as well, so it’s an excellent tool for self-promotion,” said 88Remmer. That’s part of the reason he always makes sure to credit and link out to the full video source he pulled his GIFs from when posting them on Reddit. For Sparklyren, the power of the porn GIF speaks for itself after surviving so many years and so much restriction and censorship from various platforms. Sparklyren vividly remembers the first porn GIF he ever encountered on Tumblr. He’s kept it saved in his personal files, transferring it from phone to phone over the years out of sheer sentimentality. It shows three extremely strapped young men pleasuring each other and themselves on a brightly lit marble kitchen countertop.

He believes that “we have yet to see the peak of creativity behind the creation of porn GIFs,” and hopes even more interesting things will be done with all the new software possibilities. The porn GIF is not going away any time soon, because porn communities are a great thing that I hope continue to thrive and allow more people to be liberal and not feel judged about something that we all enjoy,” said the Digital Pimp. The precise science of the perfect porn GIF Ease of use and brevity are, undoubtedly, at the heart of porn GIFs' lasting appeal. But they don’t just save you time and effort. On Tumblr, they were a refinement of the often inelegant material of full-length porn, creating almost elevated adult entertainment experience. The best part about GIFs is they're usually repeating the most interesting parts of the porn they're sourced from,” said the Footprince. “Most people who like cumshots aren't going to want to sit through six minutes of cheesy dialogue to see seven seconds of climax. That's what I like the most about it: They’re essentially highlights in full motion.”

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My rule of thumb is the three seconds of gold,” he said. “If I find something very dope, I try to cut it down to 3 seconds and go from there. if it's longer, I can edit in workarounds to make the file smaller.” Within the porn GIF genre, there are a variety of subgenres, which speaks to just how much creators influence and shape porn GIFs through craftsmanship. According to 88Remmer, there's the style that's essentially a minute-long summary of videos, cutting together different positions before landing on the money shot. The other common style, which he prefers, scrubs through porn videos to find the single best moment, which they then work to turn into the perfect GIF. Porn GIFs distill any variety of adult video into a looping image that can last from mere seconds to a full minute. But the short-form format isn’t all that’s unique about porn GIFs. Many of the folks we talked to — from aficionados to NSFW GIF creators themselves — say it is by far their favorite, if not their only, form of porn consumption, and for good reason.

The porn GIF niche might take up less time and digital space than a full-length video. But clearly, its impact is greater than its file size. Where the porn GIF lives: Past, present, and futureWhile seemingly simple, making porn GIFs requires its own kind of craft. You not only need to be proficient with certain editing tools, but also patient enough to search for videos that will translate well into the GIF format. On top of all that, you need to have a good eye for deliciously succinct sexiness.