Beyond greetings, this emoji is also used when you want to get someone's attention. You can use it to quietly call someone in a group chat or to say, "Excuse me!" to start a conversation.

In real life, waving is for people at a distance, but in the digital world, it's a friendly signal for beginnings and endings. Recently, it has also been used on audio-based social media like Clubhouse to mean someone wants to speak, adding a new context of "I'd like to talk."