Tumblr users can now make four-frame GIFs using their webcams; the feature is not available yet for Tumblr apps. Users can press “Take a Photo” in photo posts and select “GIF,” then record themselves.
This is the first step in what could be a very interesting feature for Tumblr. Users already find really creative ways to express themselves, but this gives them a very quick, low effort way to insert themselves into their posts even more. Instead of searching for that perfect shocked reaction GIF, users can create a reaction GIF of themselves.
This feature will really excite me, though, when (if?) it comes to Tumblr apps. Tumblr’s user base overlaps fairly significantly with Snapchat’s, where users are very accustomed to quickly creating goofy videos of themselves reacting to other users’ content. Tumblr could tap into this sentiment of personal reaction; admittedly, Tumblr is a much more public, Facebook-esque sharing versus Snapchat’s ephemeral sharing, but I think there’s a market for it.
Users are increasingly assuming that the goofy snaps they send will be opened in a group and shown to people, or screenshotted and posted on social media. Skipping the middle man could be a big boost to Tumblr’s tools for personal sharing.
In related news, this is going to make “porn central” very, um, interesting?
