Step aside, emojis – the trend in the akïn office is the /giphy extension on Slack. Entering this extension, along with a specific keyword, will generate a random gif as a response. But the keyword here, is random.
While we’ve had some cute gifs appear as responses in conversations (like this one - how can you not adore Winnie the Pooh!), we’ve also had some rather… awkward moments with our gifs. Here are just some of them:
**Names changed to protect the identities (and maybe, dignity) of the colleagues.
1. When congratulating a colleague on their work anniversary:
Ostrich: “Hey everyone! It was Wombat’s first day in akin this time 2 years ago!”
Ostrich: /giphy congratulations
Ostrich: “Whoa, sarcastic much?”
Wombat: /giphy old already
Wombat: “This guy is totally not old!”
Wombat: /giphy old woman
Wombat: “…”
Verdict: … yup, pretty awkward. (For the record, we do not endorse being rude to your elders… much less elderly abuse!)
2. In a conversation about another giphy gif:
Possum: /giphy okay
Possum: “Haha, he looks like he’s saying ‘okay lah’, but it’s probably actually ‘okay then’.”
Koala: /giphy singapore
Possum: “!?”
Koala: “hahaha urm.”
Verdict: We love Serena Williams… but we’re not sure that her appearance at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) finals in Singapore really represents our country!
3. When planning for a discussion:
Dingo: “Hey Ostrich, shall we speak at about 12 regarding the branding project?”
Ostrich: /giphy sounds good
Ostrich: “HAHAH! Trolling gif.”
Dingo: “Hahahahahaha oh my.”
Verdict: Probably more appropriate for someone whose words you can’t take seriously – i.e. not your boss (most times, anyway)!
4. When still surprised by the previous gif:
Ostrich: “Ohkay, that gif was totally not the one I was looking for.”
Dingo: “Hahaha.”
Dingo: /giphy I see
Dingo: “ahaha mine is totally not it too.”
Verdict: …sometimes, it’s just better to stop before it gets too awkward.
5. When in (a slightly heated) discussion about a client:
Possum (to Koala): “…if I were you, I’d tell them to read up on the original!”
Possum: /giphy fierce
Koala: “Hahahaha.”
Possum: “Sigh… not the kind of fierce I was looking for...”
Possum: /giphy fierce
Possum: “Okay, better.”
Verdict: If you can’t be fierce… at least be fabulously fierce!
6. In yet another discussion:
Possum: “…otherwise, we can stick to this unless anyone objects.”
Ostrich: “Haha okay.”
Possum: /giphy awesome
Possum: “erm lol okay.”
Ostrich: “OH THAT BROKEBACK FEELZ.”
Verdict: …yeah, awkward enough.
7. Talking about Brokeback...
Quokka: “Okay! Send over the photoshop file. That’s all, thank you loads bro!”
Ostrich: “No worries!”
Quokka: /giphy yay
Ostrich: (massive online laughter outburst)
Verdict: Poor fox and his (soon to be) broken back.
8. When fawning over some pretty spring lollipops:
Possum: “sounds yummehh!”
Pusheen: “so pretty!” 😍
Ostrich: “I WANNTTTTT”
Ostrich: /giphy I WANT
Ostrich: “Ohkay whut. Hahahahaha.”
Koala: “Hahaha.”
Possum: “more #awkwardgiphymoments.”
Verdict: If Ostrich wants it that way…
9. When we heard that the Pokemon cafe is coming to town...
Dingo: “Can we go on a company outing!”
Dingo: /giphy pika
Cockatoo: “…that’s gotta hurt.”
Ostrich: /giphy pokeball
Koala: “hahahahaha what.”
Wombat: “OMG hahaha. Beyonce would make quite a powerful Pokemon.”
Verdict: Beyonce, we’d choose you too! (...and Pokemon cafe, what?)
10. Yes, we have a lot of discussions over Slack:
Pusheen: “What about taking away the ‘the’? Will that be weird?”
Pusheen: /giphy weird
Pusheen: “???? Okay, now that’s weird.”
Possum: “Haha, I think that’s going into the blog.”
Pusheen: “…That’s the first thing I thought of.”
Verdict: It’s actually not that awkward, but the awkwardness of having it appear at random made it kind of awkward…
Out of all our awkward giphy moments (trust us, there are more), this one probably has to take the cake... or the taco:
/giphy grandma
...yep.
Awkward moments aside, we love connecting with each other on Slack – an extension like this makes communication more visual, and at times, unpredictably funny!
Do you have a favourite Slack extension? Or, if you use the /giphy extension on Slack, tell us what your #awkwardgiphymoment is! We’d like to be assured that we’re not alone in the (awkward) giphyverse.
Disclaimer: This post is not endorsed or sponsored by Slack… or Giphy, for that matter. But, if either team would like to connect with us, we’d be more than happy to say hi! Leave us a message in our comments or hit us up via email.
