ASMR is a term we often see on youtube those days. In fact, it is a phenomenon that has been going on for a few years, but the oldest article mentioning it dates 2015.
Today you have so many ASMR accounts with hundreds of thousands of subscribers generating millions of views for a single post. While not a consumer of those videos myself, I thought the psychology behind it to be very interesting. ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. While similar experiences were recorded through the ages in literary descriptions(“the soothing sounds of nature”), for the past few years it has become an internet phenomenon. It was originally born accidentally with how-to-do videos such as ironing a shirt, or Bob Ross’s The Joy of Painting series and such.
ASMR is described as tingling skin sensation that generally starts on the scalp, moving to the neck and the spine/upper spine to the extremities. People use it to relax and/or to fall asleep. It is generated through audio stimuli. Some people experience it and some people don’t. But the goal remains the same: relaxation and anxiety remedy.
There are many ways ASMR can be triggered with a lot of different sounds. That is why there are so many ASMR videos out there, and so many YouTube accounts with ASMR in the name. It can be the soothing and satisfying sound of ice breaking or crackling fire. But more and more online account is now offering different things. Most have in common looking straight at the camera, and talking or whispering to the viewer, in a very smooth and relaxing voice or no talking, just a shot cutting the head of the host, where the viewer only see what the host is doing with her hands.
All the sounds you hear are recorded in a closed miked and binaural fashion. Which means the microphone is set very very close to the subject allowing enhanced details. So someone talking/whispering that close sounds like someone is standing right next to your ear. The binaural mics are set in a way not only to reproduce a 3D space, but also the distance separating the two human ears. Somehow it can feel like a very intimate experience.
The ASMRist, as they are called, can also play with the mic, touching, tapping it with the fingers or with an accessory for enhanced triggers. Some ASMRists are also using keywords or expressions to induce relaxation, whispering for instance relax or you did your best. Some do more of a role-play type, impersonating a situation, such as being at the hair-dresser.
Gentle Whispering ASMR, one of the popular AMSR accounts with 1.6 million subscribers
Taking a step back, all those triggers give one thing: extra, personalised attention. In a world where the youngest generations spend more and more time on their connected device, at a time where we are supposed to be more connected than ever, the opposite is also true. Social deprivation not only shortens lifespan but also takes away our social skills. People do not know how to interact in society anymore. Research shows people are more lonely than ever before. In 2018, the UK even appointed a minister of loneliness. Our social behaviour changing our on social set of skills, in turn, change how we consume online, and therefore is very hard to predict where we are heading. For those interested, I did compile a series of newly released books here on that topic, which are very interesting reads.
By being loners, the younger generations still crave for that basic human attention. Enters ASMR. In a way, it is very much a sound therapy. Technology and modern online habits might format societal culture and behaviours but cannot change basic physical attention and needs. People take it where they can find it. ASMR does just that — virtually.