GIFs rule the Internet, and this is especially true when we take into account the number of LOL Cats -- and Grumpy Cats -- we like in our travels along the information superhighway. (Although it's interesting to note that, for all of the information made so easily available to us on the Web, we choose to take all of our time and spend it on finding LOL Cats.) Still, if some researchers at MIT (!!!) were to have their way, they'd take the language of the Internet and make it a language onto itself! 

According to MSN, the researcher in question -- Kevin Hu and Travis Rich -- have erected a site (called, creatively, GIFGIF) that quantifies the emotional content of GIFs by using human brainpower. The duo got their inspiration by watching how GIFs explained the situation in the Ukraine in such a way that typical news couldn't do. As such, this project -- sponsored by MIT's Media Lab -- asks visitors to pick which GIFs better convey a particular emotion. 

And, according to Quartz, this project has already proven to be a hit: since it was launched on March 3, the site generates an average of 15,000 views a day. "We're already seeing that votes vary across different cultures," Rich said, "and looking at which GIFs are the most volatile-which ones have votes change the most based on country-could help us understand how emotions are interpreted across the world." 

It's questionable whether this site will be able to build a lasting database of GIFs, specifically if they're looking to build a language from it, but as a web trend, GIFs aren't going anywhere, according to these researchers. "Whether or not Congress ever convenes to discuss whether or not the constitution should be translated into GIFs, they're still a big part of culture and going to remain that way for some time... We hope the tool we're building will be useful in that future," said Rich.