NaM is a special Twitch emote featuring the Korean streamer, Namja, smirking that's only on the BTTV extension. It doesn't have the most positive reputation, as users love spamming it on chats (because it's so big). Also, it's kind of racist - it's been used to make fun of Asian people before.
When you've used Twitch for as long as I have, you learn about all kinds of emotes. Back in 2020, I actually learned about the NaM emote for the first time - someone kept spamming it as a response to AYAYA (more on this later on).
I not only took a closer look at all of the above, but some other additional information, like how the NaM emote originated, and how you can use the extension to get a hold of it.
Sound good?
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The NaM Twitch emote is a BTTV emoticon, so you can't just find it on any Twitch chat. You'll have to download the extension to use it (more on how later on).
It came from a clip of Korean streamer, Namja. And includes him smirking in an almost sarcastic way. While it was named after him, many users think that it's an acronym for 'non asian minority', but this isn't the case. It was uploaded to the extension in 2015 from a stream that he did.
Given how popular NaM is, it's birthed other emotes, like MaN, which is a young Bill Harrington with a gaming headset on.
There are a few different uses for the NaM emote, and I've taken a look at some circumstances that you'd see below. Unfortunately, a lot of them aren't that dignified.
Some toxic users send the NaM emote to make fun of Asian people. If it was a Twitch emote and not on the BTTV extension, it would have got deleted a long time ago for this.
The emote takes up a lot of space, so users love going to chats and spamming it. It's no surprise that quite a few streamers have banned NaM emote on their chats because of this.
The NaM emote is also used as a response to the AYAYA emoticon. What exactly is AYAYA? It's an emote of the Anime character, Karen Kujo that's used whenever anime is spoken about on stream. As a counter to it, many users send the NaM emote, which almost always leads to a spam war.
Instead of being used when talking about Anime, the AYAYA emote can also be sent if the viewer is excited or happy about something.
NaM is also used whenever the country Vietnam is mentioned. This all comes down to the 'nam' at their end.
Unlike traditional Twitch emotes, you can't just use NaM on a streamer's chat. You'll need the BTTV extension. Yes, it's free to download, in case you're wondering.
Here's how you install BTTV and use the NaM emote:
No, Twitch has not banned the NaM emote. Remember that it's a BTTV emoticon, so you only find it on the extension. But I have to mention that many streamers have banned NaM from their chats. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since the emote is used a lot for spamming. And some users even use it to make fun of Asian people.
No doubt about it, if the NaM emote was a regular Twitch emoticon, it would have gotten removed a long time ago. Just check Twitch's community guidelines. You'd see that they have a zero-tolerance for anything that's seen as harassment. If you know anything about how ChicaL got banned, you'd know how true this is.
Answered below are some popular questions.
If you mean the most popular emote, this has to go to Pjsalt. It's a fun way to make fun of someone who's a sore loser. Apart from it, HaHaa and TriHard are also up there - HaHaa is an emote of actor, Andrew Sandberg that's used to express extreme cringe, while TriHard is an emote of popular streamer TriHex, that's used whenever another viewer is being a try-hard.
But if you want to know my personal opinion, the number 1 spot has to go to Kappa - it's a great way to troll, and has become ingrained in gaming culture. It's streamer Josh DeSano looking sarcastically at the camera.
By far, the rarest emote has to be the Golden Kappa. It's a fun gold variant of the Kappa emoticon that I spoke about above. The thing is, no one really knows how you can get it. It can randomly just show up on your chat.
The NaM emote has a bunch of different uses. Most of the time, it's used for spamming, or as a response when the AYAYA emoticon is sent on a streamer's chat. If you're unaware, AYAYA is sent when a streamer mentions anime.
Apart from this, the NaM emote is sent whenever Vietnam is mentioned, or just to spam in general. Remember that it's huge, so even a few of them in a chat can be annoying.
Many users think that NaM is an acronym for Non Asian Minorities, but this is not the case. Its name is based on the streamer, Namja.
