While scrolling through social media platforms like Facebook, Tiktok, users may have encountered the “uwu” symbol in videos, posts, and even a very popular trend about “uwu”. So what is uwu? Let’s explore and decipher the allure of this iconic “uwu” symbol with Mytour!

What is Uwu?
1. What is Uwu?
“Uwu” isn't a word with a specific meaning, it's often used on the internet and in online conversations to express fondness, happiness, or admiration. Users commonly use “uwu” to convey cuteness, surprise, or other positive emotions, making the conversation more lively.
This symbol depicts a face with two eyes closed together along with a small, cute mouth, creating an adorable image.

uwu represents cuteness, delight
Apart from the traditional “uwu” version, the online community has also creatively come up with variations such as:
- “UwU”: Expresses more affection and happiness
- “OwO”: Represents wide-open eyes, conveying curiosity and surprise
2. Origin of uwu
It's quite challenging to pinpoint the origin of “uwu”. The online community began using this symbol around the early 2000s, during the rise of forums like 4chan, Twitch, and Discord. Many believe that “uwu” originated from the anime, manga, and gaming community, where users often express emotions through symbols and images. In 2005, “uwu” first appeared in anime fan fiction and became a familiar symbol in anime and manga series.

uwu is used in anime
In 2014, the Internet and Tumblr spread widely, and uwu started becoming popular on these platforms, becoming an integral part of internet culture. By 2016, the “uwu” symbol was added to the website of The Word Observatory of the Royal Spanish Academy with the definition of 'an emoticon used to express happiness or tenderness'. With this milestone, “uwu” became a popular symbol beyond the realms of anime, gaming, manga communities and within mainstream internet culture.
On forums, there are various interpretations of UwU like:
- owo emoticon: uwu is an upgraded version to be even cuter than owo, as the 'o' describes wide-open eyes, indicating surprise, while the 'u' depicts closed, squinted eyes, appearing more adorable.
- “uwu” as an acronym: Many people use uwu as an acronym for phrases like “you are welcome” or “you wish you”.
- Facial depiction: When drawing “uwu” with the “w” placed lower and in the middle of the two “u”s, it forms a facial expression with squinted eyes and a smiling mouth.
3. When to use “uwu”?
The “uwu” symbol is often used in various contexts such as expressing cuteness, sweetness, or happiness. Or when you want to comment on a cute photo of a friend, you can also use “uwu” after a compliment.

Use uwu when you feel cute
In some cases, “uwu” also replaces sweet affection or the tender agreement between couples.
For example: The outfit she's wearing is too cute uwu!
Or “Want to go watch a movie tonight?”
- “Sure thing uwu!”
4. Deciphering the allure of the “uwu” symbol
The prevalence of the “uwu” symbol is incredibly vast as the Internet thrives. Expressing emotions behind the screen of a phone or computer in interactive comments or online messaging is quite challenging. Using the “uwu” symbol somewhat helps the other person understand your joy and happiness, making the conversation more interesting and lively. Therefore, when the “uwu” symbol appears on social media platforms, it has a great appeal to users worldwide.
5. Trend of saying “uwu” on Tiktok
Tiktok is seen as a video-sharing platform with incredibly fast trend updates. The trend of saying “uwu” became popular on Tiktok through a video clip cut from a livestream of Hannah - a 21-year-old American girl with the Tiktok account @itshannahowo. During her livestream, viewers asked Hannah to say the word “uwu”, and although she didn't know how to pronounce it, she tried saying “iu-wiu” with an incredibly cute voice. The result was that the moment of saying “uwu” quickly made Hannah famous and many young people imitated her pronunciation.

American Tiktoker Hannah creates a buzz with a clip saying uwu
The trend of saying “uwu” also originated from there, with girls doing makeup similar to Hannah's style and mimicking the sound in the original video or pronouncing it in their own voices. This trend has stormed Tiktok for a while with videos tagged #uwu gathering billions of views and huge interactions.

Uwu challenge becomes a trend embraced by many
6. How to pronounce the word “uwu”
Commonly, the common pronunciation of the phrase “uwu” is “oo-woo”. In some other contexts, many people may read it as “iu-wiu” or speak in a whimsical manner to add cuteness, humor to this symbol. Since this is a symbol only of joy, there are no strict rules when reading it, you can be creative according to your preferences and purposes. Small note: For adults or in serious, formal environments, you should not use this word or similar words to show politeness and respect for the other person.
Conclusion: This article has updated everyone on what the “uwu” symbol is, while decoding the allure of this incredibly popular “uwu” symbol. Hopefully, the information above will help you keep up with the trends of the younger generation. If you know of any other interesting trends, share them with Supermart Mytour to have even more exciting content.
Explore information about some iPhone models at Supermart Mytour: