The Secret Communication on Twitch: The Hidden Meanings of Emojis

Twitch is the most popular live-streaming service on the web. Although it’s mostly used for streaming video games, Twitch also features some sort of art, music, and other creative content. The site gets more than 240 million unique users every month, and each day, the game streams for an average of 105 minutes on the platform. The conversation that runs along with a Twitch livestream is an important part of the show. People there can talk to each other and the show’s stars in real time; they can debate, share their opinions, and argue in any way that is comfortable for them. And using emotes is one of them.

Just like emojis, emotes flavor the monotone written word with a bit of spice of expression, emotion, and — probably their most appealing facet — silly fun. They are no longer playful artifacts: emotes create identity, build community, and act as a sort of viral advertising. Let’s dig deeper into this topic and see how these symbols can wield profound influence and catalyze the expansion of a Twitch stream.

The Most Watched Games on Twitch

Twitch is home to a bunch of games that attract millions of viewers worldwide. Among the most popular titles are:

• Fortnite (93 million followers) — A battle royale game where players fight to be the last one standing on a dynamic, ever-shrinking battlefield.
• Grand Theft Auto V (67.5 million followers) — Known for its expansive open-world environment, allows players to engage in a variety of criminal activities and story-driven missions.
• Minecraft (58 million followers) — It attracts audiences with its blocky, sandbox world where creativity and survival go hand in hand, as players build, explore, and combat various threats.
• Valorant (58 million followers) — The game combines tactical first-person shooting with unique character abilities, providing a competitive environment that has quickly garnered a dedicated following.

However, a game that has stood the test of time and continues to be a major draw on Twitch is World of Warcraft (10.7 million followers). Launched in 2004, WoW is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the high-fantasy universe of Azeroth. Players create characters and embark on epic quests, battling formidable foes and exploring vast territories.

A central element to progression in WoW is the acquisition and management of gold. This in-game currency is essential for purchasing equipment, crafting materials, and other items vital for advancing through the game. Farming gold can be time-consuming, leading many players to seek quicker alternatives. Fortunately, trusted platforms offer the option to buy World of Warcraft gold in just one click, allowing players to focus more on their adventures and less on the grind. Regardless of the game you choose, you can be sure to see tens or even hundreds of emotes during Twitch streaming. They all come in different forms and deliver different meanings.

Kappa: The Emote That Revolutionized Twitch Chats

The most popular emote on Twitch is the Kappa, a black-and-white face that denotes sarcasm. You can monitor the frequency of Kappas typed into Twitch chats in real time on a website that serves as an emote scoreboard. Similar to other emotes, users may attach it to a chat message by inputting its code, “Kappa,” and pressing the send button, or by selecting it from a pop-up menu in the messaging window. On the World Wide Web, the word “Kappa” itself has become slang. Look for a series of #kappa hashtags on X (ex Twitter).

The Popularity and Usage of Kappa

So, for starters, it was one of the first emotes made when the site was still called Justin.tv. It is also one of the free emotes that anyone can use. Kappa turns a message into the opposite of what it means. Kappa is how Twitch users pretend to roll their eyes, make fun of someone, or giggle for fun.

It’s also become the emoticon for trolling, which is the uncontrollable posting of hate speech on the Internet. Some watchers use Kappa as a way to communicate without getting in trouble: say something mean and then add a Kappa to make it look like it was a joke. From there, a link was made between Kappa and trolls.

Other Popular Twitch Emotes

Obviously, Kappa is far from the only emotes used on Twitch. Other popular options are as follows:

• HeyGuys, which looks like a happy woman waving hello, is a common way to start a chat conversation.
• BibleThump the main character of The Binding of Isaac has a crying face that you can tell means something bad is going to happen.
• The Poggers emote is used by Twitch members to express happiness, joy, and amazement.
• PJSalt is often used when someone is particularly upset, and the audience or people around them find it amusing. It suggests that the person is exaggerating and should not start crying. PJSalt is not only popular on Twitch and YouTube but also frequently used on social media platforms. This emote shows an overturned salt shaker with a large pile of salt next to it. PJSalt gained fame on Twitch and has since been used at least as often as the original term “salty,” which has been popular since the early days of live streaming.

Still others, which are usually small versions of announcers’ faces, show normal feelings in video games. In the FailFish emote, for example, presenter Tim Mines, better known as Spamfish, has his hand over his face to show that he is clearly upset.

Mines said, “I am my own worst enemy on Twitch.” Some people even laugh at the idea that he self-destructs while playing video games to make the connection stronger. “People accuse me of failing on purpose, it’s bizarre to even talk about it.”

Personality and Group

People use emotes for more than just pictures when they talk. Emoji’s official ruling body, Unicode, only approves of less than 2,000 of them. Twitch has more than 30,000 emotes. A huge number of Twitch emotes are called “subscription emotes.” With a monthly membership, usually $4.99, fans of a certain channel can get access to a custom set of emojis. To have more of their own emotes, broadcasters need to get more users.

Professor Vyv Evans at Bangor University says that presenters often put their own faces on subscription emotes they make for fans. This gives emotes a unique personality element. “Emojis are slightly different, they don’t have this avatar function associated with them,” he says.

Linguist McCulloch said that reporters often make up their own emotes for words or feelings that are used a lot. “Hype is clearly a video game emotion, failure is clearly a video game emotion,” she stated. “Users aren’t meeting a basic need for communication because there are a dozen other ways to say that… This is a second-order need for social connection and safety.”

Without diving deep into reasoning and background, one thing we can say for sure — the phenomenon of emotes on Twitch is with us to stay. From being just funny images and symbols, emojis have now become a comfortable way to communicate freely, with zero boundaries or restrictions.

Conclusion

Beyond their functional purpose, Twitch emotes have become a means of forging identity and a sense of belonging within the platform’s vibrant community. The use of specific emotes can signal allegiance to certain streamers, gaming communities, or even broader cultural trends. This shared language creates a sense of community. Viewers and streamers alike engage in a collaborative dance of emote-based communication.