See, that would be an example. I don't know if you're agreeing with me or trolling me, by responding to posts about gifs with the extensive use of gifs - but that is actually an appropriate case.
The "applauding citizen Kane" gif has become synonymous with strong approval, as expressed by Orson Welles' face and strong clapping gesture.
Therefore it is a very effective and appropriate response to a post you agree with, sparing you the trouble to type "yes, I agree" in an excessively verbose manner.
...but here's the catch: 90% of the other gifs, if you'll pardon my French, suck donkey bollocks.
They are generic and can't be equated with anything. The face of the bald man, for example: what the hell is he expressing? A stupefied confusion? approval? Attention? I can't tell.
Saturation leads to the inevitable decay of quality, reaffirming the truth of Sturgeon's law, which, while simplistically phrased, turns out to be true in pretty much every case.
By the way, irony and meta get so many layers, when talking about gifs and memes, that they can lose relevance.
Funny how the Citizen Kane gif expresses strong approval, while in the movie, if I recall correctly, he was applauding his wife's awful performance very strongly to elicit a response in the rest of the audience.
But I digress.
