Boost Team Communication: How to Use Giphy for Slack

Are your Slack conversations becoming a drag—filled with nothing but boring blocks of business text? Well, it‘s time to liven things up with Giphy integration!

Adding animated GIFs to messaging is a proven way to increase engagement, connectivity, and fun among teams. This guide will teach you how to supercharge Slack with the Giphy app.

Here‘s what we‘ll cover:

• Giphy‘s Role in Visual Communication
• The Benefits of GIFs for Remote Teams
• Step-by-Step Installation
• Slash Commands vs. Advanced Searching
• Customizing Content Filters
• Usage Stats and Preferences
• Removing Giphy from Slack

So whether you‘re an individual user looking to spice up your remote work chat or the admin managing an entire corporate Slack ecosystem, let‘s dive in!

Giphy’s Vital Role in Visual Communication

Giphy has become the internet‘s premier source for GIF hosting and sharing. Their platform allows anyone to search through billions of GIFs and embed them across social media, messaging apps, emails, and websites.

The company’s mission is to be the top visual communication tool used globally. They aim to achieve that by making it insanely easy for people to find and share moments captured as GIFs.

Here are some key stats on Giphy‘s growth and usage:

As these numbers show, Giphy has exploded into one of the most widely used sites in digital communication. Their GIF database spans every conceivable niche interest and pop culture moment imaginable.

Giphy also enables seamless integration within outside apps and services, like Slack. Installing it brings the full power of their platform directly to your team‘s collaboration toolkit.

Why GIFs Improve Remote Team Communication

Slack markets itself as a messaging app “on a mission to make work simpler, more pleasant, and more productive.”

But for all its benefits, Slack’s text-centric interface can feel cold and lifeless. Walls of words lose their meaning after a while. And it gets difficult interpreting tone, emotion, and nuance.

GIFs help humanize digital chat by making it more visual. Animated clips quickly convey reactions and unspoken sentiments that text alone cannot.

Using Giphy in Slack offers many advantages, including:

Increased Engagement

GIFs grab attention with movement and imagery that text fails to match. Teams engage more when discussions become more dynamic and fun. The visual humor can help stave off “Slack fatigue.”

Enhances Remote Connection

GIF reactions provide the facial cues, emotion, and personality missing from telecommuting. This helps distant coworkers bond and know they’re being heard.

Universal Communication

A single GIF can instantly express meaning across language and culture barriers where translating text fails. They convey a shared experience that words cannot.

Saves Time

You’ve surely heard the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” GIFs efficiently communicate in moments what paragraphs of text cannot.

Boosts Morale

Laughter and levity strengthen relationships and increase job satisfaction. GIFs remind coworkers of their shared humanity during stressful workdays.

Of course, that’s not to say you should replace all serious messaging with GIF dance parties. But sprinkling in some animation keeps energy and spirits high while working remote.

Step-by-Step: Installing Giphy for Slack

Let‘s get Giphy integrated into your Slack workspace. We’ll focus on the desktop browser method, but the process works similarly in mobile apps.

Access the Slack App Directory

First, log into your Slack account online and navigate to your Workspace. Click on the "+" icon to open the App Directory:

This directory allows you to search available third-party apps to use with Slack.

Search for "Giphy"

In the search bar that appears, type in "Giphy" and press enter. This will display the Giphy app integration as an installable option:

Click "Add to Slack"

To approve installing Giphy, click the bright green "Add to Slack" button. This initiates the permissions request process.

Finish Enabling the Integration

After adding Giphy, Slack now needs some additional setup details from you. Click the prominent "Finish Enabling Giphy" button next to complete things:

This opens a configuration pop-up window.

Set Content Rating & Image Previews

Under "Content Rating", choose what level of GIFs you want visible in this workspace ranging from G, PG, PG-13 or R.

Also enable "Image Previews" so GIFs appear automatically instead of just links.

Finally, click the "Save Integration" button to complete installing Giphy!

It’s now ready to start using with slash commands or advanced searches.

Giphy Slash Commands for Easy Access

The quickest way to post a Giphy GIF is by using slash commands built into Slack‘s message composer box.

Type "/giphy" followed by any keyword like "thumbs up", "celebration", "cats", etc. For example:

/giphy high five

Slack queries the Giphy database for relevant GIFs based on those keywords and displays an appropriate trending result:

You can then choose to insert the GIF directly into the channel or shuffle for alternatives.

The command also works in private groups and direct messages. But for more control, the full Giphy interface accessible from the app directory offers advanced search capabilities.

Searching Giphy‘s Massive Library

For finer control beyond slash commands, click the "+" next to the message compose field and select "Giphy" from the list:

This opens a specialized Giphy panel allowing you to:

Find & Share a GIF: Keyword search with filters like categories, ratings, size etc.

Share Random GIF: Quickly send a viral trending GIFdy

Text Commands: Use slash command in the provided text box

I recommend browsing the "Categories" list to discover GIF genres you may not have considered. The advanced filters also help narrow options to the perfect reaction.

Hover over any GIF to preview and share to any channel on the fly without leaving your search. Thediversity of expressions and emotions covered is truly endless!

Customizing Giphy For Your Workspace

Click the Giphy icon now visible in your regular Slack sidebar to access administrative controls:

Here you can manage options like:

• Content ratings
• Image preview permissions
• Channel restrictions
• Usage statistics
• Removal

For example, disabling previews in high-priority channels allows members to share links without disrupting flow. Or restrict to internal employees only to prevent distractions with clients.

The stats provided show top GIF searches, favorites and more so you can tailor usage guidelines accordingly if needed.

Uninstalling Giphy from Slack

If your team doesn‘t end up utilizing or needing the Giphy integration as expected, uninstalling it is a breeze.

From the administrative dashboard, click the remove option at the very bottom:

This immediately disables and deletes the Giphy app functionality across your Slack workspace. All previous message history remains intact without the animations.

If you change your mind later, simply reinstall Giphy from the app directory again.

Let the GIF Party Begin!

That wraps up everything you need to know about maximizing Slack with Giphy‘s boundless library of expressive GIF art.

In summary:

• Giphy offers the world‘s largest platform for GIF search and sharing

• Integrating it with Slack boosts remote team relationships through better visual communication

• Have fun with basic slash commands for quick access

• Leverage advanced search tools to fine-tune reactions and responses

• Tweak content filters appropriately for your company culture

• Monitor usage analytics to keep it professional

• Removing the app restores original text-only chatting

With the right balance encouraging camaraderie without overdistracting employees, animated GIFs in Slack can work wonders!

Now get out there, install Giphy integration for your workspace, and start the virtual GIF party. Just mind the professionalism…we don‘t want any NSFW dancing baby GIF incidents!