How ASMR Made it Into The Mainstream

Some people might find it extremely unsettling or uncomfortable to watch ASMR videos on YouTube. While other people truly enjoy listening to the individuals in the tapes whispering, scratching, and chewing different things since it can cause a calming sensation that it is meant to. But, you might be wondering, what exactly is it and how did it become so popular?

Well, if you are interested in learning more about ASMR videos on YouTube, you might find this article helpful. The text below will allow you to learn how it became popular, however, before taking a look at that, let’s first take a look at what it is and why do some individuals find these recordings so calming:

What Exactly is it?

Now, if you are someone who spends a lot of time on the Internet, you have probably heard about this expression before. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response or ASMR for short is an interesting thing that is discreetly hidden in one of the corners of YouTube.

These recordings are made for relaxing by giving individuals a soothing tingle in the back of their head or spine. Individuals who can experience ASMR often refer to it as “tingles” or “chills”, these feelings are activated by a little thing called “triggers”. These triggers can be almost anything.

Some of the usual triggers include people whispering softly, creating different sounds with their mouths, as well as tapping and scratching materials, as well as brushing or eating different things. You should know that the triggers do not necessarily come from the things posted online, individuals can also experience it in real-time.

For instance, people can experience it if they hear someone brushing their hair, turning the pages of their books, or when they are unknowingly tapping on the table. People who usually watch these recordings do it as a purpose of falling asleep or relaxing their mind and body after a long day at work. But, why are these videos becoming increasingly popular?

The Rise in Popularity

Ten years ago, the expression “ASMR” was first used by a woman called Jennifer Allen, and since then, this digital community has grown incredibly. Similarly to other subcultures such as fandoms and hipsters, this specific community continued growing thanks to the people who shared their interest in these clips on the Internet.

Of course, there is a wide range of communities on the net, however, the platforms that people choose to circulate these clips are primarily two platforms, YouTube and Reddit. Yet another thing that makes these clips more and more popular is that there are more people recording these clips, hence, it is natural that there is an increase in popularity.

This is how the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response made its way from a hidden corner of YouTube to a place that is more accepted worldwide and in the mainstream. Today, you can notice a wide range of companies using these triggers for connecting or attracting customers.

Since it is closely connected to a calming and comfortable feeling, brands managed to benefits quite a lot from implementing the triggers into the marketing efforts. For example, some of the biggest brands that have incorporated the triggers into their marketing efforts are IKEA who has made a clip about the furniture in a bedroom, as well as KFC and Dove who used the triggers for engaging with their customers.

For example, a magazine called “W” has been working with a lot of famous people in order to make the clips even more popular and mainstream. Their channel on YouTube features a list of these clips. Celebrities such as Margot Robbie and Cara Delevinge talked about various things while making trigger noises with a wide range of items.

All of the previously mentioned things make it quite clear that this type of entertainment has been rising from a small community of people to the mainstream. Of course, there are people that think that ASMR is weird and annoying, however, although some people have been affected by this, most of the ASMR loves simply ignore that and enjoy the content that helps them sleep or relax.

This is also one of the reasons why it is growing in popularity. The creators of these clips ensure that there are always new things for people to enjoy, and most of the creators are gaining more and more followers every day, across various platforms. Also, the entire community is growing, hence, brands are also providing ads that include the aforementioned triggers.

So, because the number of followers grows each day, which leads to companies implementing this phenomenon into their marketing efforts, it is safe to say that this type of entertainment is not going anywhere. The popularity is rising all over the world and it is possible that it will do that for quite some time.

How Big is The Community?

If you asked me two years ago, I would say that the ASMR community is small. However, nowadays, the following is quite large and it grows more every day. There are hundreds, if not thousands of YouTube channels dedicated to ASMR, channels that have millions of subscribers and views.

As mentioned earlier, there are threads on Reddit that are dedicated solely to ASMR videos. Major websites such as The New York Times and BuzzFeed covered it already, and CollegeHumor actually chose to make the entire things funny, which is actually an incredibly funny video, plus it is quite funny.

This means that more and more people accept ASMR, especially when they find out that it can actually help them fall asleep or relax after a tiring day at work. Additionally, brands saw a marketing opportunity with these videos, hence, you can see it in some major marketing campaigns nowadays.

Conclusion

As you can see, ASMR videos are here to stay. Every day more and more people choose these videos as a relaxation method, especially if they are trying to sleep or relax. So, now that you know what these videos are, as well as why they are increasingly popular, do not waste any more time, and check out some ASMR videos if you did not experience them already!