Abstract

This essay focuses on the emoji used on the online livestreaming platform “Twitch.tv”, the so-called “emotes”. In contrast to regular emoji, emotes differ in both their appearance and pragmatic use due to their unique nature. Created, uploaded and shared by not just the platform itself but also its users, both streamers and viewers, they are much more malleable and varied than regular emoji. For example, an emote can be an animated .gif image, and many emotes are based on real-life photographs or screenshots of people and their facial expressions. In addition, each emote bears a codename with which it is referred to and used; i. e. writing “PogChamp” in the message window makes the emote appear once it is sent into the chat. Thus, emotes on Twitch fulfill a myriad of uses not entirely covered by the emoji classification by Steffen Pappert. In this essay, emotes are analysed through the lens of this typology, to both prove their similarity to emoji and the ways in which they differ, giving suggestions for further research and expansions into this classification to handle these unique forms of online communication.