What is Emo?

Wikipedia's display of "stereotypical emo fashion"

As any person who frequents the city (be it by choice or not) would know, a large group of what many would describe as emos are very regularly gathered in the centre of the Queen Street Mall, and often in areas of King George Square. The ones in the mall tend to sit/stand around a lot, talking to each other in their own familiar groups. Whilst the way they take up vast amounts of space in the middle of the city's busiest area for hours on end does sometimes bother me, I must say I personally have never experienced any trouble with any of them, or any other so-called emos for that matter. They keep to themselves somewhat. I've encountered many an unpleasant person in the city, but I'm pleased to report that not one looked like a member of the emo clan.

But what is an emo? I still can't say I really know. I have a general idea, but I have no idea when the labelling began. According to trusty old Wikipedia, the term "originated in the 1980s to describe a genre of music stemming from the hardcore punk music scene in Washington, D.C." But why the word emo? One source told me it derives from the word 'emotional', but I'm still not certain...

Personality-wise, Wiki suggests that emos are "candid about their emotions, sensitive, shy, introverted, broken-hearted, glum, and often quiet. Emo personality is also often connected with writing poetry, which addresses confusion, depression, loneliness and anger, all resulting from the world's inability to understand the author." It also refers to the other aspect of the emo culture: self-harm and suicidal tendencies (be they real or not), and draws the parallels between emos and the goth culture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emo_%28slang%29

I would be very interested to know what emos talk about. Does an emo have to do more than just look like one to be one? And if the individual in question is not a fan of self-harm? Must one be depressed and full of self-pity? When people refer to "the emos" sitting around in their black and white attire in the middle of the mall, what are they talking about? I know I dyed my hair black a few months ago, and one of the first comments I received was that I looked like an emo. So does it come down to the hair colour?

I really wish there was a clearer understanding, at least on my part, of what it's all about and why, precisely, it came about.