Giphy Is Expanding Beyond GIFs With A New Short Video Platform

Photo: Giphy

Giphy has become well-known for its extensive library of GIFs that can be integrated with various social media platforms and messaging services.

Now, it is looking to expand beyond that with the soft launch of a new short video platform, which comes shortly after the company's first film festival in New York City. The platform is a website dedicated to short videos that are 30 seconds or less that people can watch, upload, and share. The videos are available in both SD and HD and on both, desktop and mobile devices.

“Giphy is now looking to the future — the future of entertainment itself —and believes an important part of this will be micro-entertainment,” the company wrote in a release.

For a preview of the platform, head over to the GiphyTV section of the company’s website.

Due to the current popularity of short videos, it makes sense for Giphy to move into the market, but the move likely won't come without challenges. Instagram and Snapchat currently dominate the short video landscape and Byte, a new video looping app by one of Vine's co-founders is arriving in the Spring. Even if Giphy’s short video platform doesn’t have the same success of its GIFs, it could be a nice complementary product.

In other Giphy news, it rolled out its own version of the Stories format with Giphy Stories this past summer.

SOURCE: Giphy