I almost always bail when I see animated gifs in a technical article. They are most often meant to add a touch of humour, so of questionable value to begin with, and I find them painfully distracting from the text I'm actually trying to read.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>They are most often meant to add a touch of humour, _so of questionable value to begin with_
This comes across as remarkably sad to me. Humor is of questionable value as a baseline?
To each their own, I suppose. I enjoy a technical article with animations that explain things, or a well-placed joke/humorous anecdote/etc. Especially in cases where the humor also supports a point or illustrates something. I tend to remember things better when they have some sort of emotional impact, and out of the emotional impacts possible (sad, angry, etc.) I definitely prefer joy, humor, etc.
You're right. I definitely worded that poorly. My distaste for animated gifs that are _meant_ to be funny, but I find sensorially painful and detracting rather than enhancing definitely leaves me in poor humour.
All in favour of animations that explain things and definitely enjoy a well-placed joke or anecdote.
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry