An emote is an entry in a text-based chat client that indicates an action taking place.[1] Unlike emoticons, they are not text art, and instead describe the action using words or images (similar to emoji).
In most IRC chat clients, entering the command "/me" will print the user's name followed by whatever text follows. For example, if a user named Joe typed "/me jumps with joy", the client will print this as "Joe jumps with joy" in the chat window.
In online chatrooms that do not support the "/me" command, it is conventional to read text surrounded by asterisks as if it were emoted. For example, reading "Joe: *jumps with joy*" in a chat log would suggest that the user had intended the words to be performed rather than spoken.[2]
In MMORPGs with visible avatars, such as EverQuest, Asheron's Call, Second Life and World of Warcraft, certain commands entered through the chat interface will print a predefined /me emote to the chat window and cause the character to animate, and in some cases produce sound effects. For example, entering "/confused" into World of Warcraft's chat interface will play an animation on the user's avatar and print "You are hopelessly confused." in the chat window.[3]
Emotes are used primarily online in video games and, more recently, on smartphones. Image-based emotes are frequently used in the chat feature of the streaming service Twitch.[4] Twitch also allows users to upload animated emotes encoded with the GIF format.[5]