On GIF creator Stephen Wilhite's death, Twitter's fitting tribute (with GIFs)

Stephen Wilhite, the creator of GIF, died at 74 of Covid-19 complications. (Image: @DanielTG85/Twitter)

Everyone is familiar with the GIF – a rather interesting way of communicating – but not many knew the creator of this unique blend of video and photo.

But when Stephen Wilhite, the computer scientist credited with being the lead inventor of the GIF, died at 74, the internet came together to give him an overwhelming tribute with an overload of his creation.

Wilhite invented the GIF or Graphics Interchange Format in the 1980’s while working at an online service provider CompuServe. And now, GIFs have become an integral part of present day communication and memes. He received a lifetime achievement award from the Webby Awards in 2013 for his work.

While a major debate had exploded on whether GIF was pronounced with a hard G or soft, Wilhite had set the record straight.

“The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations. They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,' pronounced ‘jif.' End of story,” Wilhite had told The New York Times in 2013.

So to be clear, it’s not the hard G like in goat or grape but a soft G like in genius.

On his obituary page, several friends and former colleagues paid tributes to Wilhite.

“Enjoyed working with Steve in the 90's at CompuServe. He'd lend me his whetstone so I could sharpen my pocketknife while we discussed deliverables and dates,” wrote a former colleague.

“This man inadvertently shaped the Internet, and is the godfather of all the meme's on it. Thank you for all the hours of joy!” said another.

The internet’s tribute to Wilhite is only fitting.

RIP Stephen Wilhite, creator of the GIF. This was the first GIF ever created in 1987. pic.twitter.com/gqtMBqEOdg

— Blade McG (@Blade__McG) March 23, 2022

The GIPHY team is sad to hear of the passing of Stephen Wilhite, the creator of the GIF file format.

GIPHY was built on a sincere love for the GIF — and we are indebted to the creativity and vision of Mr. Wilhite pic.twitter.com/CTPS895wCQ

— GIPHY (@GIPHY) March 23, 2022

rip Stephen Wilhite #gif pic.twitter.com/u5oLqu22UB

— (@pixelastronaut) March 23, 2022

The late Stephen Wilhite's favourite GIF. RIP. https://t.co/hezZOHnR21 pic.twitter.com/OsuqV01HuW

— LoveWilmot (HateRacism) (@LoveWilmot) March 23, 2022

Stephen Wilhite, thank you for giving us the gift of the GIF life wouldn’t be the same pic.twitter.com/hNAGIoM1og

— vicki (@vickiixa) March 24, 2022

Stephen Wilhite, inventor of the GIF has died. RIP. (And he pronounced it "jif." pic.twitter.com/C89yLhNpsK

— Michael Woyton Is Fully Vaccinated (@woyton) March 23, 2022

Stephen Wilhite is with Jod now pic.twitter.com/DoLyVX4DcX

— The Admiral, Sir Cheeto McFluffybum (@CheetoMcfluffyb) March 23, 2022

Stephen Wilhite, father of the GIF, passed away. To him, I say… pic.twitter.com/REaklVcbEM

— David Wood (@DarthChiliDawg) March 24, 2022