Link Hoard ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ My hoard ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ My Site ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ What are blinkies?

Blinkies¹ (modernly diminutively called "blinky"'s²) are small (commonly 150x20 pixel³) flashing GIFs with “blinking” borders⁴, used as self-expression through profile decoration⁵. Blinkies originate from 1990-early 2000s forums, blogs, & fan sites like LiveJournal, Xanga, & MySpace.⁶

The graphic was influenced by digital banner advertisements⁷, the infamous GeoCities 88x31 pixel button⁸, and new wave graphic design.⁹
Blinkies (and web graphics wholly) have been revived through an interest in Y2K & Webcore styles¹⁰, piracy & physical media debates¹¹, and anti-privacy laws & legislation¹²; all captured through the catchphrase: "the future we were promised, but never delivered¹³".
Sites like Blinkie.wiki, Blinkie.world, & Glitter-graphics.com have been collecting and hoarding these blinkies for archive by use of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine¹⁴, curating an estimated total of 50,000 blinkies.

In the modern day, blinkies are more readily available through requested free-to-use blinkies and templates (i.e. Blinkie.cafe), with creators on sites such as Tumblr, Neocities, & SpaceHey
Now- it’s sustained, and rejuvenated audience bring their blinkies to new hosts, including drag-and-drop website builders like Carrd, Strawpage, & Mmmpage, static HTML hosts like Nekoweb & the aforementioned Neocities, or markdown services like Fluffle (the one you're on right now!).

How do I make blinkies?

For blinkie generators, scroll further down
You will need:
1: An art software

...That's it!

There are free mobile art apps like ibis Paint X, Sketchbook, Infinite Painter, MediBang & Drawing Desk.
There's also free mobile animation apps like FlipaClip & Animation Desk.
Free website art programs include Kreska, Kleki, Magma, & Pixilart.
Free computer art apps include Sai, Krita, GIMP, Inkscape & MsPaint.

Paid mobile art apps include Procreate, ibis Paint, & Clip Studio Paint.
Paid computer art apps include Rebelle, Aseprite & Corel Painter.

For a pixel style, Aseprite & Pixilart are best.
For ease of use, ibis Paint X & MediBang are best.

For standard size blinkies, 150 (X) by 20 (Y) pixels; for increased defintion, multiply the axes individually to your need.
Remember: most web hosts allow rescaling!

For the blinking border, you can use Sam's template to start.

Alternatively, you can make them without the border. For example (not templeting):

The art part is up to you.

Once you have the screenshots needed for making a blinky, you’ll need to compose the images into a GIF format.
Thankfully, EZGIF has an GIF maker which will make this process easy. Click here to view their documentation.

Are there blinkie generators?

Yes! Here is a list:

Blinkies.cafe, MyBlinkie, GerudoValley, Dazzlejunction, Websetsbylynn

Sources

1 ⟢ Wiktionary, "Blinkie" (circa Jan 8th, 2009) ✦
2 ⟢ Blinkee Blog, "The Comprehensive Definition of “Blinky” and Its Variants: Exploring the Origins, Alternate Spellings, and Cultural References", by Matthew Jacobs (circa Oct 14th, 2024) ✦
3 ⟢ Tumblr, "BLINKIES: a guide to internet graphics and my blog", by Cheezitofthevalley (circa Aug 19th, 2024) ✦
4 ⟢ Tumblr, "BLINKIES: a guide to internet graphics and my blog", by Cheezitofthevalley (circa Aug 19th, 2024) ✦
4.1 ⟢ White Heart Rainbow Soul, "Web Survival Guide", by Felix (circa Apr 6, 2025) ✦
5 ⟢ Femicom, "PFFT - an evastars retrospective: illustrated glossary", by Rachel Simone Weil in collaboration with Eva and Yaxa (circa Mar 22, 2023) ✦
5.1 ⟢ Medium, "The teenage girl’s internet of the early 2000s", by Melissa Mcewen (circa Nov 3, 2017) ✦
6 ⟢ INSPIREMARI, "Free Blinkies", by Mari (circa Nov, 2025) ✦
6.1 ⟢ Blinkies, "Blinkies", by Rob Jones (circa May 20, 2010) ✦
6.2 ⟢ John's Xanga Site, "XANGALAND SECURITY", by John (circa Mar 26, 2004) ✦
7 ⟢ INTERNET HISTORY PODCAST, "ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY, AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE WEB’S FIRST BANNER ADS", by Brian McCullough (circa Oct 26, 2014) ✦
8 ⟢ Tek Eye, "Remembering Powered By and 88×31", by Daniel S. Fowler (circa Mar 27, 2012) ✦
9 ⟢ Femicom, "PFFT - an evastars retrospective: art style + influences", by Rachel Simone Weil in collaboration with Eva and Yaxa (circa Mar 22, 2023) ✦
10 ⟢ The Guardian, "Frutiger Aero: the Windows screen saver design trend taking TikTok by storm", by Ellie Violet Bramley (circa Dec 14, 2023) ✦
10.1 ⟢ BBC, "Why do Gen Z have a growing appetite for retro tech?", by Ryley Bowman (circa Dec 7, 2025) ✦
11 ⟢ The Guardian, "Can’t pay, won’t pay: impoverished streaming services are driving viewers back to piracy", by Gabriel V Rindborg (circa Aug 14, 2025) ✦
11.1 ⟢ Medium, "The Ethics of Media Preservation: Is Piracy the Answer to Preserving the Digital Age?", by Ava Orellana (circa Jun 8, 2023) ✦
11.2 ⟢ Stop Killing Games, "THEY KILL GAMES. WE FIGHT BACK.", by Ross Scott (circa Apr 2, 2024) ✦
11.3 ⟢ HACKADAY, "WHY PHYSICAL MEDIA DESERVED TO DIE", by Maya Posch (circa Apr 22, 2025) ✦
12 ⟢ legislation.gov.uk, Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) (circa 2023) ✦
12.1 ⟢ European Commision, "ProtectEU: Agenda to prevent and counter terrorism" (circa Feb 26, 2026) ✦
13 ⟢ TikTok, "Frutiger aero: The future we were promised but was never delivered", by Carsandmusic4life (circa Oct 11, 2023) ✦
14 ⟢ Blinkie.wiki, "Archival Tools", by Max Dino & Bob/Jester (circa Jun 9, 2025) ✦.)
14.1 ⟢ Blinkie.world, "Introduction", by Max Dino (circa May 1, 2025) ✦