what does ^^ mean in chat

As far as I'm aware it means “The same as what's written above”, so for example if you messaged “I'm tired” and the respondent writes back “ ^^ ” they're basically saying “Ditto”.

It may also be used as an emote where ^^ represents 2 joyful eyes, as it resembles the Japanese anime style of happy eyes. It can also be written as ^.^ or ^_^