Posted: March 31, 2020
It’s a weird time right now, with the stay-at-home and quarantine orders expanding across the globe due to COVID-19. Because of this, for April Fool’s day we’re sharing only treats without any of the normal holiday trickery. As our treat to you, we’ve compiled the top gifs that Four Tens uses on a weekly basis in our internal communication.
You might be thinking, “What possible benefit could I get from a list of your most popular gifs?”
You should really be asking yourself what benefits aren’t included. Instead of taking the time to type out a long, convoluted message to a co-worker (or client that you have that kind of informal rapport with), you can send a gif, have a good laugh, and move on with your day.
Without further ado, here are our ten most used gifs, and what they usually mean. Because a picture is worth a thousand words, so a gif must be worth what? At least a couple thousand, right?
Dumpster Fire
Sometimes a situation just has no words. When you’re watching something implode from the outside, it’s like driving by a car that’s on fire on the side of the highway.
Blerg!
We like a nice, expletive free workplace (most of the time). “Blerg” is an all-encompassing unoffensive expletive. Use in any moment you wish to express rage or frustration.
Smart Thinking
We can’t all have genius moments every day. But when you’re sharing a story about a great idea, end it with this gif. If you’re the one hearing about a great idea, share this gif in recognition of bearing witness to the great innovator’s genius.
Gone to Lunch
For the one coworker that politely shares when they are away from their desk to eat lunch without a monitor in their face.
Shrug
Meh. Sometimes you don't have any words because there's simply no emotion involved at all. Or you just have no idea what's going on.
What is Math?
Your manager asks you to do something nearly impossible. When you message a co-worker about it, you throw this gif on the end to demonstrate how you’d need an astrophysics degree to complete the task.
Mind Blown
This is almost the opposite of the dumpster fire gif. If you have no words for something, but it isn’t completely negative.
Stupid
Pretty self-explanatory.
You know what? That’s good.
When you and a teammate have spent the entire afternoon trying to fix one single issue that is giving you a complete runaround and you both eventually realize it’s good enough how it is. #shipit
Total shocker
In these unpredictable times, sometimes you just need a way to convey that you are startled and/or bewildered. While there are many Schitt’s Creek gifs that are used by Four Tens in any given week, this one takes the cake.
Bonus Gif! Popcorn.gif
There’s a reason the popcorn gif has endured throughout the long history of the gif. Most often used in situations where you’re sitting and waiting to see what happens next. Can also be used to denote pre-dumpster fire situations.
While gifs may not be front of mind for most internet users or digital marketers, they are a great communication tool and can strengthen bonds between co-workers and teammates. And with remote working on the rise, we could all use a little bit of that right now.