Emoticon Hub

Emoticons (also called text faces or kaomoji) act like “tone markers” in online chats – they show emotion and intent so messages don’t sound rude, cold, or confusing. In simple words: when plain text can be misread, an emoticon helps people understand whether you’re being friendly, excited, or serious.

Here are a few everyday examples:

In a professional message, “We need to discuss the project” can feel stressful or negative. But adding “We need to discuss the project (^_^)” instantly makes it sound more positive and calm, so the other person expects a constructive conversation instead of a problem.

When replying to a friend’s new haircut, “It looks different” can be taken the wrong way. If you write “It looks different! ヽ(°◇° )ノ”, the emotion is clear – you mean surprise and excitement, not criticism – so the message lands the way you intended.

In a group chat, “I will handle it” might look short or irritated. But “I will handle it ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ” shows confidence and motivation, making it obvious you’re taking responsibility with energy.

Overall, emoticons and kaomoji add expression to plain text, reduce misunderstandings, and make conversations feel more human.

When a copied emoticon “breaks” after you paste it, it usually means the app you’re pasting into is changing the text or doesn’t fully support some of the Unicode characters used in certain emoticons/kaomoji. Some apps automatically replace characters, remove spacing, or apply a different font, which can turn a normal text face into boxes (□) or make it look misaligned.

Our Emoticon Tool is designed to make your online conversations more expressive. Here’s how to use it:

1. Browse Emotion Categories: Look through our various emotion groups.
2. Pick Your Perfect Face: Click on an emoticon that matches your mood.
3. Share in Your Chats: Paste the copied emoticon into your message on any platform.

Our tool is optimized for single-click copying to ensure you get exactly the expression you want. However, you can use your device’s clipboard history (Windows key + V on PC) to copy several favorites from our list one by one and then paste them all together in your final document or chat.

While most people use the terms interchangeably today, there is a technical difference rooted in their origins.

Classic Emoticons are Western creations, designed to be read sideways. They focus on the mouth to show emotion, like the original smiley :-).

Kaomoji is a Japanese word meaning “face characters” and are meant to be read upright. They focus on the eyes to express a wider range of emotions, like the happy face (^_^), and often use a richer set of characters.

In modern internet culture, however, this distinction has faded. Many people casually say “Japanese emoticons” when they actually mean kaomoji, and a lot of users don’t bother with the specific term at all – they just type “emoticons” because it’s faster and everyone understands it.

Here at EmoticonHub, we use both terms – emoticon and kaomoji – on purpose. Some people search for “kaomoji,” others type “emoticons” or “text faces,” but they’re usually looking for the same thing: text-based expressions to use in messages. That’s why we keep all text faces in one place – to save your time. No switching sites – just find the right face and use it.