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MLB Cracking Down on Animated GIF’s

Word came down via Twitter (although nothing official yet) that MLB will be cracking down on Animated GIF’s.

As you’re reading this on Tumblr, I’m sure you’re very aware that Animated GIF’s make up a huge portion of posts on Tumblr.

While the inner rebellion in me wants to lash out against MLB and MLB Advanced Media, I can see see it from both sides. MLB wants to protect its content at all costs and drive people to THEIR website and collect all the hits.

On that same token, Animated GIF’s are a short and fun way to enjoy quirky, funny and interesting moments during a game that otherwise might not be seen on the highlight reel.

Up until not very long ago, MLB videos weren’t even embeddable in blog posts, which made baseball highlights even more inaccessible. That’s probably why people stared making the GIF’s in the first place.

In the end, it’s all promoting Major League Baseball anyway … but I guess it’s the principle of “stealing” content which they are taking issue with. Even though it’s not coming from a malicious place, Animated GIF’s are in that grey area when it comes to content.

I think if MLB made its content much more accessible and user-friendly, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. The NBA and NHL were very quick to adopt the formula and have done a great job of streamlining online content so that it gets out to as many fans as possible.

It seems like something stupid to get worked up about, but people really do love their Animated GIF’s … especially their baseball GIF’s.

If they do in fact decide to ban Animated GIF’s, I guess that’s just a decision we’ll have to live with. But I believe MLB is doing more harm than good by clamping down on Animated GIF’s.