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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at KU chapter.

It has recently come to my attention that many people have a unfavorable outlook on ASMR. I think that’s because people think ASMR and think of people eating into a microphone or a creepy guy trying to get off. I’m not gonna say this isn’t the case because you never know, but what I can argue is this is not what ASMR is.

 

ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. This confusing name refers to the “tingles” experienced when listening to ASMR. Again, this is not sexual in any way. Most ASMR-listeners would describe tingles as a feeling where you get the chills or the hair on the back of your neck stands up.

(Image credit: http://factorialist.com/what-is-asmr/)

Tingles can be experienced by many things such as whispering, tapping, and scratching. The people making ASMR videos, or ASM-aRtists if you will, are often speaking slowly and quietly, and are close to the microphone. Different elements of these videos are called triggers. Other popular triggers include hair brushing, mouth sounds, and personal attention (touching or appearing to be touching the camera lense). All of these things are supposed to relax the listener.

(Image credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltnFY4CErs0)

If you search ASMR in YouTube the first suggested search term is “asmr for sleep,” as this is the main goal for most listeners. When I surveyed other ASMR fans about when and why they listen to/watch ASMR, all the responses said something along the lines of ASMR being “satisfying” and “relaxing” and that they enjoy ASMR videos before bedtime. Another thing that is interesting to note is of the 50 people I asked at KU, 18 said they watch ASMR videos. That is 36% who like ASMR, so it really can’t be all that weird to enjoy it.

ASMR is a fairly new concept, as it wasn’t even an established trend before 2010. Now, ASMR is referred to as its own culture. The most popular ASMR producers on YouTube have millions of subscribers and ASMR videos can reach tens of millions of views. If you are interested in joining the ASMR lovers and aren’t already, here are a list of my five favorite ASMR YouTubers:

 

  1. ASMR Darling – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCikebqFWoT3QC9axUbXCPYw

  2. Gracev – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxXr-vX8vY54GKgTC-C1ceg

  3. Jojo’s ASMR – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjyi6by44TTH0j_U3vXEGpA

  4. Gibi ASMR – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE6acMV3m35znLcf0JGNn7Q

  5. Tingting ASMR – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClqNSqnWeOOUVkzcJFj4rBw

 

For all the ASMR haters and skeptics, all I have to say is don’t bash it ’til you try it.

 

Hello! I'm nineteen years old and from a suburb outside Chicago, IL. In my free time, I like to read and write, play with makeup, and spend time with my friends. On the KU campus, I'm majoring in the Strategic Communications side of Journalism with a minor in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. I'm also a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. I hope you have as much fun reading my articles as I do writing them :)
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