How can I turn off those auto-emotes, or at least set them to private?
You can control how those auto-emotes display:
Click the white LULU logo on your HUD (or say "/1."):
HUD Menu > settings... > text...
and now:
- 20 or 10 meters: avies within that range can hear your emotes
- private message: to sub and her owners who are presently in the same sim.
- off: no emotes. Use with caution as you might miss some important error messages.
If you have the SigGag, you can turn off those auto-emotes directly with Gag Menu > emotes... > off