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GIFs became a defining part of the early web, including the ubiquitous “under construction” signs that marked unfinished pages. 🖥️ JD Shadel looks at what these fleeting images can teach us about preserving digital culture. 📚 Read for free or purchase in print: archive.org/details/vani... 🧵

16/9/26, 2:00 am75 reposts250 likes

scfd

@scfdfr.bsky.social

16 Sept

I use you to find rotating food GIFs.

Patrick Lambert

@dendory.net

16 Sept

I feel like you should link some of the cool gif collections, like Jason Scott's "under construction" page: ascii.textfiles.com/archives/2236

ascii.textfiles.comArchive Team: Under ConstructionWe’re nowhere near done with the absorbing of as much of Geocities as we can take, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a little time to show off the kind of stuff that’s bein…

Internet Archive

@archive.org

16 Sept

Shadel traces how GIFs became a visual language of the early web, from decorative images to avatars and “under construction” signs. The Wayback Machine and GifCities help preserve millions of these artifacts. #Books #VanishingCulture #DigitalMemory #InternetArchive @jdshadel.com

AlexToolStudio

@alextoolstudio.newgrounds.com

16 Sept

no way a Stickley man

GretchenD

@gbdonart.bsky.social

16 Sept

Little green footballs! I’m sure @charles.littlegreenfootballs.com knows the complete back story.

QUAX World

@quaxworld.art

The “under construction” GIF preserved a social permission modern interfaces often hide: incompleteness was visible and expected. The artifact matters, but so does the unfinished status it performed. Can an archive preserve permission to remain provisional, or only the image that once announced it?