<s>
An	O
emote	B-Protocol
is	O
an	O
entry	O
in	O
a	O
text-based	O
chat	O
client	O
that	O
indicates	O
an	O
action	O
taking	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
emoticons	B-Protocol
,	O
they	O
are	O
not	O
text	O
art	O
,	O
and	O
instead	O
describe	O
the	O
action	O
using	O
words	O
or	O
images	O
(	O
similar	O
to	O
emoji	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Emotes	B-Protocol
were	O
created	O
by	O
Shigetaka	O
Kurita	O
in	O
Japan	O
,	O
whose	O
original	O
idea	O
was	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
way	O
of	O
communication	O
using	O
pictures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kurita	O
would	O
draw	O
pictures	O
of	O
himself	O
for	O
inspiration	O
for	O
the	O
emotes	B-Protocol
he	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nowadays	O
emotes	B-Protocol
are	O
a	O
language	O
of	O
their	O
own	O
;	O
emotes	B-Protocol
have	O
progressed	O
far	O
past	O
their	O
original	O
counterparts	O
in	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
most	O
IRC	B-Protocol
chat	I-Protocol
clients	O
,	O
entering	O
the	O
command	O
"	O
/me	B-Protocol
"	O
will	O
print	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
name	O
followed	O
by	O
whatever	O
text	O
follows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
if	O
a	O
user	O
named	O
Joe	O
typed	O
"	O
/me	B-Protocol
jumps	O
with	O
joy	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
client	O
will	O
print	O
this	O
as	O
"	O
Joe	O
jumps	O
with	O
joy	O
"	O
in	O
the	O
chat	O
window	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
chat	O
media	O
which	O
do	O
not	O
support	O
the	O
"	O
/me	B-Protocol
"	O
command	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
conventional	O
to	O
read	O
text	O
surrounded	O
by	O
asterisks	O
as	O
if	O
it	O
were	O
emoted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
MMORPGs	B-Protocol
with	O
visible	O
avatars	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
EverQuest	B-Protocol
,	O
Asheron	B-Application
's	I-Application
Call	I-Application
,	O
Second	B-Application
Life	I-Application
and	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
,	O
certain	O
commands	O
entered	O
through	O
the	O
chat	O
interface	O
will	O
print	O
a	O
predefined	O
/me	B-Protocol
emote	B-Protocol
to	O
the	O
chat	O
window	O
and	O
cause	O
the	O
character	O
to	O
animate	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
some	O
cases	O
produce	O
sound	O
effects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
entering	O
"	O
/confused	O
"	O
into	O
World	B-Protocol
of	I-Protocol
Warcraft	I-Protocol
's	O
chat	O
interface	O
will	O
play	O
an	O
animation	O
on	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
avatar	B-Application
and	O
print	O
"	O
You	O
are	O
hopelessly	O
confused.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
this	O
being	O
said	O
,	O
emotes	B-Protocol
are	O
used	O
primarily	O
online	O
in	O
video	O
games	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
more	O
recently	O
,	O
on	O
smartphones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
image-based	O
emotes	B-Protocol
being	O
used	O
frequently	O
is	O
the	O
chat	O
feature	O
on	O
the	O
streaming	O
service	O
Twitch	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Twitch	O
also	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
upload	O
animated	O
emotes	B-Protocol
encoded	O
with	O
the	O
GIF	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
