One of the reasons why Twitch is the leader in streaming is the ways in which viewers can interact with the streams they watch. Twitch chat is a blessing and a curse, as it lets viewers engage with the streamer they are watching, which can be a positive experience or, on occasion, a little toxic. But what Twitch chat has that really sets it apart is its culture of emote usage. There are so many emotes that can be used in so many ways. Sadly, however, the face behind one of the most beloved emotes, KEKW, has passed away.
For the uninitiated, making sense of Twitch emotes can be a handful. There are a few that endure, but many emotes become popular, only to slowly fade from common usage. One of the most popular emotes was PogChamp, an expression of excitement or hype, but recently the face behind the emote, Ryan Gutierrez, was banned from Twitch and a vote was held to determine the new PogChamp emote. Since then, its usage has dropped, but it remains a go-to for many Twitch users.
One of the universally beloved, though somewhat less mainstream in usage, emotes on Twitch is KEKW, which features Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja laughing, and is used in chat when something funny happens on stream. Sadly, the comedian, who went by "El Ristas," passed away on Wednesday at the age of 65. The jovial face found in thousands of Twitch chats comes from a talk show that El Ristas was a guest on, and after hearing a particularly amusing story, let out a laugh that immediately became meme material. Emotes like KEKW becoming part of not only Twitch chat, but gamer parlance as well, which is one of the big differences between Twitch and YouTube, as the latter is just starting to ramp up emote usage.
El Ristas' emote will likely live on for quite some time on Twitch, as it is a thoroughly positive and well-liked emote. The platform may reach out to his estate to make sure his family is OK with its continued use as an emote. Video game commentator TotalBiscuit, who passed away in 2018, was well known for being the face of the LUL emote, and it is still used to this day after Twitch cleared its usage with his family. Twitch is much more careful with which emotes it promotes, and removes ones that might stir controversy. Last year, Twitch removed the TwitchCop emote, worried that it might be misused in chats across the platform.
This more proactive approach that Twitch is taking is part of a number of changes on the platform to reduce hateful or objectionable content. El Ristas' KEKW likely won't be touched as it is pure positivity, and a great (though likely unintentional) legacy for the Spanish comedian to leave behind.
Source: Reddit