From Euphoria to Love Island, here are Giphy’s top Gifs of the year

If you were worried that the Gif was losing its significance in a rapidly changing digital environment, then fear not! Opening its annual breakdown of the most popular Gifs of the year, the Giphy team says “Don’t believe everything you read – the Gif is well in 2022”. This appears under the bold heading (or more loud declaration) of “Long Life the Gif!”. Certainly, this year has been a big one for Giphy with it celebrating its 10th anniversary of being the primary source of short, looping animations. So, without further ado, let’s see what made the list.

In what comes as little of a surprise, a clip from Euphoria made the top spot. With the first series of the show quite literally taking the world by storm in 2019 and propelling Zendaya even further into stardom, the second series earlier this year had a similar effect on millions of TV watchers all over the globe. This season (if possible) took an even darker turn, with Zendaya’s character Rue being sent on many an emotional rollercoaster, and fittingly, the clip shows her in the midst of one of her incredible crying scenes. Conversing with her stoic and brilliantly played Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Ali (Colman Domingo), Rue wipes her eyes while uttering the words “Thank you” after he accepts her fraught apologies. Heart wrenching stuff.

The tears were not only reduced to Zendaya though, and number six on the list saw college basketball player Aliyah Boston in floods of what she declares to be “Happy Tears!” after winning a championship game and being named NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, the Gify team explains. Even for the least sporty out there, this moment of sports-induced elation is sure to bring a smile to your face, or maybe even a tear to your eye.

Of course, it wouldn't be on the Giphy’s list of the year without a heavy dose of cheesiness – this year, quite literally. Taking the second spot is Happy from illustrator Fran Solo, which sees a croquette – a Spanish tapas staple – rolling itself in breadcrumbs much to the delight of another croquette watching on. Quite like something you would expect to find on a list from 2013, it seems there’s still an appetite (sorry!) for Gifs on the sillier side of things.

Also making the list was a clip of Kim Seok-woo – the widely loved member of K-pop band SF9 – in the Netflix show Tomorrow, a clip from the US edition of Love Island, an energetic moment from Paul Rudd on SNL and an intimate moment between Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien in Taylor Swift’s award-winning short film All Too Well. Emotions are certainly running high over at Giphy HQ.