Forget emojis, get set for awesome animated GIFs!

New Delhi: Looks like emojis, also known as pictorial images, are now out of date as a new format called Graphics Interchange Formats (better known by its acronym GIFs) are emerging as the new messaging language.

Created by Steve Wilhite, a programmer at CompuServe, in 1987, GIFs have since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability.

According to Tumblr, the blogging site, it had 23 million GIFs posted to its site every day, reports the New York Times.

In March, social networking giant Facebook began supporting GIFs, with more than five million of the animations sent daily through its messaging app.

Slack, the workplace collaboration start-up, says it counts more than two million GIF integrations each month.

As per report, online searches for GIFs have risen by a factor of nine since mid-2012, according to Experian Marketing Services, an industry research firm.

GIF animations have become so popular amongst the youngsters, using it as a way to relay complex feelings and thoughts in ways beyond words and even photographs.

The animated snippets are being spread on mobile devices by a new generation of GIF start-ups, which are backed by venture capital.

GIFs are marked by certain characteristics and are typically a few seconds long, soundless and only play once when you open th epost and then stop . Often culled from movie and TV clips, GIFs can include text on top of the animated image. People are increasingly using GIFs frequently replacing text messages.