I have been watching ASMR videos and even attempted to make a few of my own since 2015. It has become my night-time routine to fall asleep listening to a content creator softly speaking of different teas, soaps or even Turkish desserts. I stumbled upon the acronym ASMR, short for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, in a newspaper article a few years ago. The piece highlighted sounds deliberately made by people with the aim to induce a sense of calm. I didn’t know then that there was a word for it, assuming the feeling was unique to me. In fact, the term officially entered the Oxford Dictionary in 2020.
There is a specific set of YouTubers, known as ASMRtists, who create content to elicit a wave of relaxation. The narrative of these videos follow a loose structure. The emphasis is on getting the volume of the voice right, the pace of the speech, various relaxing sounds and pleasing aesthetics. The social media space is teeming with trolls and there is rarely a reel where someone will not leave a mean comment, but the ASMR community worldwide is full of empaths and cheerleaders. The content feels accessible and nostalgic with insignificant items like plastic bags, charms on old purses, keyboards and even glass jars doubling up as soothing musical instruments. They come together harmoniously to modulate the parasympathetic nervous system.
There is research to support this social media phenomenon. A 2024 report titled, What we really know about ASMR, published on Psychology Today outlines, “...watching sensory videos of people brushing their hair, whispering, and making soft repetitive noises can lead to relaxation and stress relief.” In the digital space of fractious attention span, ASMR gently goads you into stillness, claims undivided attention and celebrates slowness. It goes to show that while instructional yoga videos are good, the sound of gifts being unwrapped is far more captivating.
ASMR is now more mainstream than ever and is augmented by artificial intelligence. There are fantastical videos where one finds a woman folding into a bed of clouds or rainbows, and a closet drawer opening into a steaming drawer of pasta. They co-exist with ASMR content of women tapping their perfectly manicured nails on iced strawberry matcha.
I keep going back to these videos at the end of stressful, manic days. They create a world that doesn’t ask you to pack in a punch, lead with aggression, have all the answers or hold the reins of a million horses, all at once. This is the kind of content that urges the viewer to focus on themselves without being preachy like productivity videos. Although this social media phenomena cannot substitute therapy, it provides bite-sized relief. It is a good reminder that sometimes you just need to sit back, relax and hear the sound of wrapping paper crinkle.