Emote

A custom chat emoji on Twitch or similar platforms. Global emotes (Kappa, PogChamp, LUL) and subscriber emotes form the native pictographic language of streaming chat.

An emote is a custom chat emoji on Twitch (and comparable platforms). Global emotes like Kappa (sarcasm/trolling), LUL (laughter), PogChamp (hype/surprise), and KEKW (laughter, via BTTV) form the shared pictographic vocabulary of the medium. Individual streamers unlock custom emotes as subscriber perks — these become tribal identifiers for a streamer’s community and are among the primary value propositions of a subscription. Third-party extensions BetterTTV (BTTV) and FrankerFaceZ (FFZ) dramatically expand available emotes and have shaped mainstream emote culture as much as Twitch’s official set.