diff --git a/__tests__/components/waves/drops/ContentDisplay.test.tsx b/__tests__/components/waves/drops/ContentDisplay.test.tsx
index 1307ed5802..2ef16ec39e 100644
--- a/__tests__/components/waves/drops/ContentDisplay.test.tsx
+++ b/__tests__/components/waves/drops/ContentDisplay.test.tsx
@@ -1,46 +1,69 @@
-import React from 'react';
-import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
-import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
-import ContentDisplay from '@/components/waves/drops/ContentDisplay';
+import React from "react";
+import { render, screen } from "@testing-library/react";
+import userEvent from "@testing-library/user-event";
+import ContentDisplay from "@/components/waves/drops/ContentDisplay";
 
 let segmentProps: any[] = [];
-jest.mock('@/components/waves/drops/ContentSegmentComponent', () =>
-  (props: any) => { segmentProps.push(props); return <div data-testid={`segment-${props.index}`}>{props.segment.content}</div>; });
+jest.mock(
+  "@/components/waves/drops/ContentSegmentComponent",
+  () => (props: any) => {
+    segmentProps.push(props);
+    return (
+      <div data-testid={`segment-${props.index}`}>{props.segment.content}</div>
+    );
+  }
+);
 
-jest.mock('@/components/waves/drops/MediaThumbnail', () =>
-  (props: any) => <div data-testid={`media-${props.media.url}`} />);
+jest.mock("@/components/waves/drops/MediaThumbnail", () => (props: any) => (
+  <div data-testid={`media-${props.media.url}`} />
+));
 
-describe('ContentDisplay', () => {
-  beforeEach(() => { segmentProps = []; });
+describe("ContentDisplay", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    segmentProps = [];
+  });
   const content = {
     segments: [
-      { type: 'text', content: 'hello' },
-      { type: 'text', content: 'world' }
+      { type: "text", content: "hello" },
+      { type: "text", content: "world" },
     ],
     apiMedia: [
-      { url: 'img1', mime_type: 'image/png', alt: '', type: 'image' },
-      { url: 'img2', mime_type: 'image/png', alt: '', type: 'image' }
-    ]
+      { url: "img1", mime_type: "image/png", alt: "", type: "image" },
+      { url: "img2", mime_type: "image/png", alt: "", type: "image" },
+    ],
   } as any;
 
-  it('calls onReplyClick when clicked with serial number', async () => {
-    const onReplyClick = jest.fn();
-    render(<ContentDisplay content={content} onReplyClick={onReplyClick} serialNo={5} />);
-    await userEvent.click(screen.getByText('hello').closest('span')!);
-    expect(onReplyClick).toHaveBeenCalledWith(5);
+  it("calls onClick when container is clicked", async () => {
+    const onClick = jest.fn();
+    render(<ContentDisplay content={content} onClick={onClick} />);
+    await userEvent.click(screen.getByText("hello").closest("span")!);
+    expect(onClick).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
 
-  it('does not call onReplyClick without serial number', async () => {
-    const onReplyClick = jest.fn();
-    render(<ContentDisplay content={content} onReplyClick={onReplyClick} />);
-    await userEvent.click(screen.getByText('world').closest('span')!);
-    expect(onReplyClick).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  it("does not call onClick when not provided", async () => {
+    render(<ContentDisplay content={content} />);
+    await userEvent.click(screen.getByText("world").closest("span")!);
+    expect(screen.getByText("world")).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
-  it('renders all segments and media', () => {
-    render(<ContentDisplay content={content} onReplyClick={jest.fn()} />);
+  it("renders all segments and media", () => {
+    render(<ContentDisplay content={content} onClick={jest.fn()} />);
     expect(segmentProps).toHaveLength(2);
-    expect(screen.getByTestId('media-img1')).toBeInTheDocument();
-    expect(screen.getByTestId('media-img2')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("media-img1")).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("media-img2")).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it("renders media when there are no text segments", () => {
+    render(
+      <ContentDisplay
+        content={
+          {
+            segments: [],
+            apiMedia: [{ url: "gif-only", alt: "Media", type: "image" }],
+          } as any
+        }
+      />
+    );
+    expect(screen.getByTestId("media-gif-only")).toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 });
diff --git a/__tests__/components/waves/drops/media-utils.test.ts b/__tests__/components/waves/drops/media-utils.test.ts
index f49d96a641..984aee82eb 100644
--- a/__tests__/components/waves/drops/media-utils.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/components/waves/drops/media-utils.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import {
+  parseStandaloneMediaUrl,
   isVideoMimeType,
   processContent,
 } from "@/components/waves/drops/media-utils";
@@ -21,4 +22,48 @@ describe("media-utils", () => {
     expect(result.segments[1]?.mediaInfo?.type).toBe("video");
     expect(result.segments[2]).toEqual({ type: "text", content: "end" });
   });
+
+  it("parses standalone gif URLs into image media", () => {
+    expect(parseStandaloneMediaUrl("https://cdn.example.com/a.gif")).toEqual({
+      alt: "Media",
+      url: "https://cdn.example.com/a.gif",
+      type: "image",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("parses gif hosts with query parameters as image media", () => {
+    expect(
+      parseStandaloneMediaUrl("https://media.tenor.com/abc/tenor.gif?itemid=1")
+    ).toEqual({
+      alt: "Media",
+      url: "https://media.tenor.com/abc/tenor.gif?itemid=1",
+      type: "image",
+    });
+
+    expect(
+      parseStandaloneMediaUrl("https://media1.giphy.com/media/abc/giphy.gif")
+    ).toEqual({
+      alt: "Media",
+      url: "https://media1.giphy.com/media/abc/giphy.gif",
+      type: "image",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("parses standalone video URLs into video media", () => {
+    expect(parseStandaloneMediaUrl("https://cdn.example.com/a.mp4")).toEqual({
+      alt: "Media",
+      url: "https://cdn.example.com/a.mp4",
+      type: "video",
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("returns null for non-media URLs", () => {
+    expect(parseStandaloneMediaUrl("https://example.com/page")).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it("returns null when text contains non-url content", () => {
+    expect(
+      parseStandaloneMediaUrl("look https://cdn.example.com/a.gif")
+    ).toBeNull();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/components/waves/drops/WaveDropReply.tsx b/components/waves/drops/WaveDropReply.tsx
index d7681af0c0..fa01694b5b 100644
--- a/components/waves/drops/WaveDropReply.tsx
+++ b/components/waves/drops/WaveDropReply.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 "use client";
 
+import { useMemo } from "react";
 import Link from "next/link";
 import Image from "next/image";
 import type { ApiDrop } from "@/generated/models/ApiDrop";
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ import DropLoading from "./DropLoading";
 import DropNotFound from "./DropNotFound";
 import ContentDisplay from "./ContentDisplay";
 import { resolveIpfsUrlSync } from "@/components/ipfs/IPFSContext";
+import { parseStandaloneMediaUrl } from "./media-utils";
 
 interface WaveDropReplyProps {
   readonly dropId: string;
@@ -31,6 +33,26 @@ export default function WaveDropReply({
     dropPartId,
     maybeDrop
   );
+  const replyPreviewContent = useMemo(() => {
+    if (content.apiMedia.length > 0 || content.segments.length !== 1) {
+      return content;
+    }
+
+    const [segment] = content.segments;
+    if (segment?.type !== "text") {
+      return content;
+    }
+
+    const standaloneMedia = parseStandaloneMediaUrl(segment.content);
+    if (!standaloneMedia) {
+      return content;
+    }
+
+    return {
+      segments: [],
+      apiMedia: [standaloneMedia],
+    };
+  }, [content]);
 
   const renderDropContent = () => {
     if (isLoading) {
@@ -65,7 +87,7 @@ export default function WaveDropReply({
               {drop.author.handle}
             </Link>
             <ContentDisplay
-              content={content}
+              content={replyPreviewContent}
               onClick={() => onReplyClick(drop.serial_no)}
               className="tw-min-w-0 tw-flex-1 tw-overflow-hidden"
               textClassName="tw-min-w-0 tw-overflow-hidden"
diff --git a/components/waves/drops/media-utils.ts b/components/waves/drops/media-utils.ts
index cdd1172e77..12ac80286a 100644
--- a/components/waves/drops/media-utils.ts
+++ b/components/waves/drops/media-utils.ts
@@ -2,25 +2,27 @@
  * Utility functions for handling media in wave drops
  */
 
+const STANDALONE_URL_REGEX = /^https?:\/\/[^\s<]+$/i;
+const IMAGE_EXTENSIONS = [".gif", ".png", ".jpg", ".jpeg", ".webp", ".avif"];
+const VIDEO_EXTENSIONS = [
+  ".mp4",
+  ".webm",
+  ".ogg",
+  ".mov",
+  ".avi",
+  ".wmv",
+  ".flv",
+  ".mkv",
+];
+
 /**
  * Determines if a URL is pointing to a video based on extension or source
  */
 const isVideoUrl = (url: string): boolean => {
-  // Check file extension
-  const videoExtensions = [
-    ".mp4",
-    ".webm",
-    ".ogg",
-    ".mov",
-    ".avi",
-    ".wmv",
-    ".flv",
-    ".mkv",
-  ];
   const lowercaseUrl = url.toLowerCase();
 
   // Check if URL ends with a video extension
-  if (videoExtensions.some((ext) => lowercaseUrl.endsWith(ext))) {
+  if (VIDEO_EXTENSIONS.some((ext) => lowercaseUrl.endsWith(ext))) {
     return true;
   }
 
@@ -139,6 +141,46 @@ const processContent = (
   return result;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Converts a single-URL text segment into media preview metadata when possible.
+ */
+export const parseStandaloneMediaUrl = (text: string): MediaItem | null => {
+  const trimmed = text.trim();
+
+  if (!STANDALONE_URL_REGEX.test(trimmed)) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  let parsedUrl: URL;
+  try {
+    parsedUrl = new URL(trimmed);
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  const host = parsedUrl.hostname.toLowerCase();
+  const pathname = parsedUrl.pathname.toLowerCase();
+  const isGifHost = host === "media.tenor.com" || host.endsWith(".giphy.com");
+
+  if (isGifHost || IMAGE_EXTENSIONS.some((ext) => pathname.endsWith(ext))) {
+    return {
+      alt: "Media",
+      url: trimmed,
+      type: "image",
+    };
+  }
+
+  if (VIDEO_EXTENSIONS.some((ext) => pathname.endsWith(ext))) {
+    return {
+      alt: "Media",
+      url: trimmed,
+      type: "video",
+    };
+  }
+
+  return null;
+};
+
 export const buildProcessedContent = (
   content: string | null | undefined,
   media: DropMediaInput[] | null | undefined,