In this blog post, we’ll discuss the emergence, definition, types, features, challenges, prospects, and caveats of ASMR content.

The rise and definition of ASMR content

As private broadcast media and video platforms have become the main outlets for accessing video media, ASMR content has become a new trend in consumer culture. As private broadcast media and video platforms such as ‘Africa TV’ and ‘Youtube’ have become the main channels for accessing video media, many new types of video content have emerged and are being consumed. In particular, in recent years, ASMR content (short for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) has been rapidly disseminated through these private broadcast media video platforms, and the consumption of ASMR has become a trend among the younger generation. According to some statistics, ASMR-related content was one of the most searched for content on YouTube during 2017-2018, second only to dance cover content.
As the consumption of ASMR-related content has been emphasized as a major phenomenon in the use of various media, academic studies have been conducted to explore and explain this phenomenon, although they are still not numerous. In Korea, many studies have been conducted to understand the motivation for ASMR content consumption by applying the use and gratification theory, and other studies have been conducted to understand ASMR consumption associations from the perspective of cultural studies, such as the psychological effects of ASMR and the phenomenon of gender issues.
The term ASMR, commonly interpreted as autonomous sensory pleasure response, was defined by Jennifer Allen in 2010 and has been in use since then, and refers to a medium that produces a tingle (tingling sensation) or an inexplicable feeling of psychological well-being that originates in the head and travels down the spinal cord by a number of stimulating mechanisms, commonly referred to as triggers. One of the most important elements of ASMR is that the triggers that elicit a response from the user are not visual images, but primarily auditory sensations, such as nature sounds, eating, scratching, etc. In this sense, ASMR content can be understood as a medium with a low-intensity, auditory-centered mechanism that allows users to experience tingling.
The recent rise in popularity of ASMR content is a global phenomenon centered on YouTube, the leading personal broadcast media video platform. In Anglo-American countries such as Australia and the United States, ASMR content has been popular since 2010.

Types and characteristics of ASMR

Due to the limitations of the device as a delivery medium, ASMR content uploaded on YouTube consists of only visual and auditory stimuli, and indirectly evokes taste or touch through sounds or descriptions. To amplify the sensation of sound, it is common to use stereo audio to differentiate between right and left sounds, and video uploaders tend to record using paired binaural microphones. ASMR content can be broadly categorized by whether or not it’s scripted or spoken.

The specific stimuli that trigger a tingle are called triggers, and they can include
1. Sounds made by certain objects, such as rattling or rustling. Tapping with a nail or finger is called tapping.
2. voices, such as whisper and soft speaking. You can also whisper certain words repeatedly, which are called trigger words. The most famous trigger word is the sound sksk. Blowing a little air into your ear while whispering is called ear blowing.
3. different kinds of sounds that can be made by the mouth itself without using your voice. For example, the smack of your lips after applying lipstick or the natural crunching sound that occurs when you eat. However, there are a number of people who find these sounds offensive, which is why they are warned in the title of the video.
4. Personal care or attention, which is the essence of most situational drama. It refers to the comfort we feel when someone cares for us or gives us attention.
5. Visual trigger. These are things you do right in front of the camera, such as brushing the lens with a brush or moving your hands gracefully.
6. Videoing actions, such as crafting or organizing, that provide a sense of calm. Whereas ASMR relies on auditory stimuli, these videos are more visual. If you watch them long enough, you’ll realize that they feel a bit different from ASMR. However, this element doesn’t deviate too much from the essential concept of ASMR. The feeling of satisfaction is also included in the category of psychological well-being. Technically, the concept of ASMR doesn’t necessarily distinguish between visual and auditory aspects, but ASMR content focuses mainly on the auditory aspect.
7. The sounds of building LEGO pieces, toy sounds, or the characteristic crackling of ratchet joints and friction of plastic when transforming, joining, and separating robotic toys. These sounds can also be very off-putting to people who are not interested in toys.

Skits are typically created with the assumption that the audience is a service user, such as someone seeking counseling and psychotherapy, a haircut, or a massage. In the early days of ASMR, the genre was characterized by easily mimickable sounds, especially hairdressing/barbering, which involved cutting hair with scissors, but the genre has since expanded to include steampunk ASMR, zombie apocalypse ASMR, and futuristic aircraft ASMR.
There are also a growing number of videos that incorporate food into ASMR. There are videos of people eating a meal, but in a relaxed and slow manner, and there are also videos of people eating chocolate or candy, where they can make a lot of noise. A powerful trigger that was first discovered in the early days of ASMR and is still very popular is the theme song Pop Rocks. It’s the fizzy popping sound that occurs when you eat candy, and surprisingly, it has a lot to do with the history of ASMR.
There are also a growing number of videos of unintentional ASMR. Many people don’t like the awkward behaviors in ASMR videos, such as intentionally whispering, constantly tapping on various objects, and switching back and forth between both microphones. Unintentional ASMR channels are a collection of scenes from movies, celebrity videos, and videos of doctors performing medical experiments. Everyday noises, which are also considered a type of ASMR, are often created using ambience sounds, relaxation sounds, and nature sounds. Nature sounds are currently popular in the app market.

Copyright issues with ASMR content

All ASMR videos are copyrighted by the person who recorded them with the relevant device, or by the person who provided their voice to the video. In other words, the copyright belongs to the organization or individual who first created the sound, and unless the copyright holder distributes it for free, you must pay a reasonable fee to consume it. While it may be a little unfamiliar in Korea, Japan has its own sales system and proper market, with some people selling their ASMR content only through web stores or specific events, and others offering free samples before purchasing.
Fortunately, the vast majority of ASMR content is shared for non-profit purposes, and there’s nothing wrong with individuals owning or listening to content shared for this purpose. However, when someone attempts to monetize this content by re-uploading it to the internet under their own name, this is strictly illegal.
If you look at the vast amount of ASMR content on YouTube right now, you’ll notice that aside from the “personally uploaded original music” and “celebrity uploads,” a lot of ASMR content is either unauthorized reposts of other uploaders’ music, or it has been manipulated with some cropping and tweaking. Accounts full of these songs are often banned after a while due to the accumulation of third-party reports, but by then they’ve been re-uploaded by another account under a different name with a slightly different description or title. You should avoid this illegal behavior.

ASMR content medical claims

There’s an article in The Guardian that explains how sounds can give us goosebumps. According to the article, researchers have found that when we get goosebumps, our brain’s septal cingulate nucleus is stimulated and actively responds. The nucleus accumbens is the center of our brain’s reward system, which is why we feel a sense of satisfaction when we use drugs, sex, food, and other things, and a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when we finish a task, because the nucleus accumbens is stimulated by dopamine. However, experiments have shown that 47% of the general population never experience goosebumps from sound.
While it’s true that ASMR content has been shown to help people fall asleep, it does so through mental relaxation, and not directly from the ASMR visuals themselves. However, many ASMR creators do aim to directly induce sleep, and based on this fact, “Have a relaxing day” is probably a better choice for the main line of ASMR content than “Good night”.
There have been some studies that suggest that frequent use of ASMR content can lead to sensory desensitization, but it’s important to note that these are the results of a survey, not a medical study. In fact, humans become desensitized to repetitive stimuli in the first place.

The problem of low-quality ASMR content

As ASMR has become more and more popular, there have been many people entering the market with shoddy content. Many ASMR videos have been recorded in poor recording conditions or with inferior equipment, resulting in videos that are not stimulating and are simply unpleasant. There has also been an increase in the number of videos that are ASMR in name only, such as videos that are very similar to eating shows and are posted as ASMR content under the name of eating sounds, or videos that talk about obscene things or emphasize only the body.

The future of ASMR content and what to look out for

To summarize, ASMR, which translates to autonomous sensory meridian response, refers to certain phenomena and events that give people a tingle or a sense of psychological well-being. The term was first coined by Jannifer Allen, founder of the ASMR University Institute. ASMR has a strong presence on video platforms like Twitch, streaming platforms, YouTube, and more, and it’s also been capitalized on in areas like advertising. In fact, the top ASMR channels on YouTube in 2019 typically have more than 600,000 to 1 million subscribers, and ASMR ads ranked #1 in YouTube ad views and execution in Q1 2018. And as of September 2020, the most popular videos on YouTube have been uploaded for only a year or so and have garnered over 90 million and 100 million views, respectively. ASMR content is being actively studied for use in advertising, and there is also interest in using the effects of ASMR, such as stress relief and relaxation, for therapeutic purposes. According to an OECD survey, the average Korean sleeps 7 hours and 42 minutes, which ranks last among OECD countries. It is well known that the quality of sleep affects the level of psychological well-being, and people who have difficulty achieving psychological well-being often enjoy experiences such as ASMR, which uses specific stimuli to achieve a sense of calm. This has been shown to be effective for those who need white noise, as there is no language barrier and the immersive nature of the experience is immersive.
However, ASMR content isn’t all positive. First, a lot of ASMR content seems to be uploaded without permission from other uploaders, or manipulated with minor cuts and tweaks, which is a serious copyright issue. Secondly, if you use ASMR content too often and repeatedly, you may become desensitized to subtle stimuli and feel uncomfortable in your daily life. Thirdly, with the growing number of unpleasant videos that are simply labeled as ASMR, choosing a random ASMR video to listen to at bedtime can be counterproductive by overstimulating the brain. There are many attempts to capitalize on the emotional impact of ASMR, and it’s currently trending, so it’s important to understand ASMR and emotions before using it.