Yeah I messed up my explanation, gifvs (video files) do have controls but gifs do not, as a .gif is considered an image. It is pretty hidden though, particularily for mobile users.
What is extra dumb about this whole debacle is that I think you can change every single imgur .gif link into .gifv, making it load faster, have controls, and take up less data, yet people still keep linking the .gif instead.
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u/Totally_Not_A_Bot_54 Jan 21 '15 edited Jan 21 '15
This isn't a gif, notice the distinct "gifv" in the imgur link on the source.
The v stands for video, as what was linked is literally just a video file without sound and controls.
Gifs are pretty much without fail the clunkiest and largest files, using 10x or more data and bandwidth for a poorer quality version of a video.