From Euphoria to Love Island: Giphy's Top GIFs of the Year

By GIFMakes Team | June 9, 2025 | Read Time: 5 minutes

Pop culture is a major driving force behind the most popular GIFs shared online. Every year, moments from hit television shows, movies, and viral internet sensations are captured and transformed into looping animations that become part of our daily digital conversations. Giphy's year-end lists often highlight which cultural touchstones resonated most with users, and in a recent year, shows like "Euphoria" and "Love Island" featured prominently among the top GIFs.

Capturing the Cultural Zeitgeist

Shows like "Euphoria," known for its intense drama and distinct visual style, and "Love Island," a reality show generating daily talking points and reactions, provide a wealth of emotionally charged and visually striking moments perfect for GIF creation. These shows tap into the cultural zeitgeist, and their most memorable scenes quickly become shorthand for expressing a range of feelings and reactions online.

The Power of Reaction GIFs from Popular Media

Reaction GIFs are a cornerstone of online communication, allowing users to convey emotions and responses in a visually impactful way. When these reactions come from widely recognized and popular shows, they gain even more traction, becoming shared inside jokes and cultural references among fans and beyond. A single GIF can instantly evoke a specific scene, emotion, or even a complex narrative from a show.

Beyond the Screen: GIFs in Conversation

The popularity of GIFs from shows like "Euphoria" and "Love Island" demonstrates how entertainment seamlessly integrates into our digital conversations. GIFs act as bridges between the content we consume and the ways we interact with each other online. They allow us to share our viewing experience, react to plot twists, and connect with fellow fans through shared visual language.

Creating Your Own Pop Culture Moments

While major shows provide a rich source of GIF content, anyone can turn their favorite moments from videos or even personal experiences into shareable GIFs. Tools that simplify the process of converting video clips or image sequences into GIFs empower users to capture and share their own cultural touchstones and reactions.