Internet Hero Reveals #GifHistory of Your Favorite Memes

Matthew A. Cherry tracks down the origins of Twitter’s favorite reaction gifs

Michelle Obama

Twitter user Matthew A. Cherry is doing the Lord’s work.

The director and former NFL player is tracking down the history of some of the most-used reaction gifs, linking them back to the original video sources and providing new context for the familiar images on the web.

Among the gifs whose origins he’s unearthed are Michelle Obama jamming to The Roots, K-pop star Chae Hyungwon sipping his tea, Jay-Z nodding his head and Rihanna shutting out the paparazzi.

While some users have hailed Cherry’s Twitter thread as a public service, “The Big Sick’s” Kumail Nanjiani are among those calling it “awesome” or “epic” or “the best thing happening on the internet.”

So if you’ve ever wondered where the most well-worn gifs on the internet came from, you can check out Cherry’s thread here or see a few examples below:

https://twitter.com/MatthewACherry/status/962011241815277568

Comments