It developed to be associated with “emo” culture and certain social media sites such as Tumblr. It’s not known where UwU started, although it’s thought to have originated in chatrooms in the mid-2000s, when home internet was becoming the standard. It has perhaps stronger associations with certain groups of people, as well as certain periods of the internet, than any other. “UwU”, though, is quite different in many ways from most emoticons. In any case, it is still being used in gaming today and usually conveys a more specific meaning than a simple smiley face would.įirst and foremost, UwU is simply an emoticon, a string of characters put together to look like a face.Īnyone who has spent anytime online will be familiar with these. Some might consider it past its time, but others are seeing this as a revival of its usage. “UwU” is among the older versions of an emoticon face that circulate online today. It is meant to convey a certain kind of affection, joy and happiness. It is used in a variety of gaming contexts, including live game chat for online games, discussion forums and Discord servers, and more.

In gaming, UwU is an emoticon meant to depict a sweet face.

What does uwu mean