ASMR Refuses to Die, and Here’s Why.

ASMR, simply put, is a tingly feeling you get when something makes your hair stand up in a good way. Wikipedia calls it “A pleasant form of paresthesia.” If your significant other whispers in your ear and it tickles in a way that makes you feel good? Boom, you just ASMRed.

But it doesn’t end there. What if the person whispering in your ear is a complete stranger? What if that stanger was online, hundreds of miles away? Wouldn’t that be weird? Apparently not. ASMR goes back on YouTube to the mid-2000s and has since become an online trend that slaps harder than Tifa Lockhart. The once basic psychological term has since become a keyword that can be attached to just about anything.

One might think that the average ASMR video is just a person whispering lullabies to help them sleep, or maybe whispering a novel to some meditation music so you can use it to relax, and those people would be right to some extent. However, ASMR goes beyond the basics these days as it continues to trend in all sorts of different areas online. Now it can just be someone talking quietly while they cook, shows on Adult Swim like Joe Pera Talks With You, or just a menagerie of random sounds such as scissors cutting through fabric to entice that “pleasant paresthesia”. And it works. This is the main reason why ASMR continues to grow in popularity and stay at the top of the trending list – it’s not a lie in that it actually has a real effect. This means when people click, they tend to stick around.

What does this mean for you? For starters, now is the time to get in on the trend and start making videos yourself. Just take what you already do, and attach ASMR to it. For example I make gaming videos. I could simply make a nice, relaxing video of me whispering softly into the mic while I play a calm game, like a city builder. Then I just slap on the ASMR keyword and watch the views climb. It’s seriously that easy. That’s the second reason ASMR refuses to die – people are attaching ASMR to what they already do so that they can wring as much use out of the trend as possible.

TLDR? ASMR has been trending for over half a decade now, and it’s growing due to its actual effectiveness combined with its easy attachment to other trends.