From my understanding it evolved from Japanese net discussions aka kaomojis<p><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A1%94%E6%96%87%E5%AD%97#%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%9E%8B%E3%81%AE%E9%A1%94%E6%96%87%E5%AD%97" rel="nofollow">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A1%94%E6%96%87%E5%AD%97#%E...</a><p>Complete history is here:<p>Link: <a href="https://www.theawl.com/2014/05/the-life-and-times-of-%C2%AF_%E3%83%84_%C2%AF/" rel="nofollow">https://www.theawl.com/2014/05/the-life-and-times-of-%C2%AF_...</a>