When I was building Jottings' image upload system, I had to make a choice: should we support animated GIFs?
The practical answer was "no." GIFs are old technology. They're inefficient. They're often used as lazy jokes. Most modern blogging platforms squeeze them into artificially low quality to keep file sizes manageable.
But then I thought about when motion actually matters.
A GIF that shows a feature demo. A reaction that needs movement to land. A meme that's genuinely funnier animated. A process documented in five seconds instead of five paragraphs. These aren't lazy—they're intentional.
So I made the decision: we'd support animated GIFs at up to 15MB, with smart optimization that keeps them fast.
Here's why, and how to use them well.
Why We Support Animated Media
Most platforms treat GIFs as second-class citizens. They compress them ruthlessly. They convert them to WebP and limit them to tiny sizes. They make them feel like an afterthought.
I wanted Jottings to be different.
The reality is this: sometimes motion communicates something that a still image can't.
Think about how you learn new features. A two-second GIF showing a button being clicked, a dropdown opening, a form being filled—that's clearer than three paragraphs of instructions. It's not lazy. It's exact.
Or consider a meme where the joke is the reaction itself. The eyebrow raise. The head turn. The slow zoom. Taking that moment and freezing it loses the whole point.
I decided that if you want to use a GIF, Jottings should let you use it properly—without making you feel guilty about file size, and without crushing the quality until it looks like a pixelated nightmare.
The Technical Reality
When you upload an animated GIF to Jottings, here's what happens:
We detect it's animated. Unlike static JPEGs, we recognize that this file is a video in disguise. A series of frames that belong together.
We keep it animated. This is the key difference from other platforms. We don't convert it to a static image. We don't extract the first frame. We honor what you uploaded.
We optimize it intelligently. We run it through optimization that reduces file size while keeping animation smooth. For most GIFs under 15MB, this means maybe a 10-20% reduction. We're not being aggressive—we're being smart about file size vs. quality.
We deliver it from a global CDN. Just like static images, your GIF lives on Cloudflare R2 and gets served from the nearest server to your reader. Someone in Berlin doesn't wait for your Australian server. The motion loads fast.
The 15MB limit isn't arbitrary. It's based on what we can comfortably store, optimize, and serve without eating into your upload budget. Most GIFs are 2-5MB anyway. Going to 15MB means you can upload something truly high-quality, or include multiple seconds of animation.
When Motion Actually Works
Let me be honest: not every moment needs a GIF.
Here's when animated media genuinely improves your microblog:
Tutorials and How-Tos
A 10-second GIF of "here's how to upload a photo" is worth more than a paragraph. Show the click, the selection, the upload. Done.
Example caption: "How to add a custom domain in 20 seconds."
Product Demos and Features
If you're shipping something, show it working. Movement makes features real in a way screenshots can't. Your readers don't just hear about the feature—they see it in action.
Example caption: "Just shipped dark mode for custom domain sites. It flips automatically at sunset."
Reaction GIFs (Used Sparingly)
I won't pretend reaction GIFs aren't fun. Sometimes the perfect reaction GIF genuinely adds to the moment. But don't use it as a crutch for saying nothing.
Instead of: "lol" with a laughing GIF
Try: "This thread nailed it. See the tweet above—this response is perfect. [laughing GIF]"
The GIF enhances a real thought. It doesn't replace it.
Process Documentation
Making something? Show the process. A timelapse of building a table. A before-and-after of code refactoring. The journey of your jots from draft to published.
Example caption: "Rebuilt the sidebar layout in 47 minutes. Every change documented in this gif."
Art and Creative Work
If you're an artist, animator, or designer, animated GIFs are your medium. They're better than static images because they show movement, flow, and rhythm. Use them.
Memes With Purpose
A well-timed meme that genuinely adds context? Yes. A meme that's trying too hard? Skip it. Your readers come for your voice, not for reaction content they've seen 10,000 times.
When Motion Is Overkill
Not every moment needs animation. Sometimes it actually detracts from your message.
Avoid GIFs when:
- You're trying to look clever. If the GIF doesn't add meaning, remove it. Clutter is clutter, even if it's animated.
- You could explain it faster. A quick sentence beats a janky GIF every time.
- The motion distracts from your point. A flashing, bouncing, constantly-moving image can pull attention away from what you're actually trying to say.
- It feels forced. If you're searching for a GIF to match your thought, instead of finding a GIF that amplifies your thought, you've gone too far.
The goal isn't to use GIFs because you can. It's to use them when they're the clearest, most direct way to communicate something.
Performance Notes
I know you might be wondering: "Will a 15MB GIF slow down my site?"
Quick answer: no, not meaningfully.
Here's why:
Cloudflare R2 delivers from the edge. Your GIFs don't travel across the internet. They live near your readers. A GIF serving from Tokyo loads as fast as a GIF serving from New York.
Browsers cache aggressively. Once someone visits your site, GIFs stick around in their browser cache. Second visits are nearly instant.
GIFs are lower bandwidth than video. A 15MB GIF downloaded once loads faster than a 15MB video that has to stream. This is the weird beauty of the old format—it's optimized for exactly this use case.
You're only loading GIFs you actually posted. Most of your readers will see 3-5 GIFs in their lifetime on your site, not hundreds. The performance impact is minimal.
That said, be mindful. Don't turn your entire feed into a GIF collection. Intentionality matters—for your readers' experience, and for keeping your site feeling coherent.
The Bottom Line
I built Jottings to let you express yourself clearly. Sometimes that means text. Sometimes that means photos. Sometimes that means a five-second animation that shows exactly what you mean.
Motion should feel intentional, not lazy. It should communicate something that stillness can't. And when you have something worth animating, Jottings should let you do it without compromise.
So upload your GIFs. Show your demos. Document your process. React with precision. Create with movement.
Just keep it honest.
Ready to share your first animated jot? Head to your Jottings dashboard and try it out. And if you're uploading something beautiful—a demo, a process, a moment that matters—tag me. I'd love to see it.
Want more tips? Check out our guides on writing your first photo jot and the three types of jots you can create.