You Tuber (2019-03)

BY SCOTT NISWANDER

SUPER-NICHE

SUPER-NICHE

ASMR is the Best Artform on YouTube That

You’re Not Watching

I’m in the middle of a huge move. I’ve moved frequently throughout my life, but this is different. It’s

a vast 1100 mile change, and for the first time, I’m making it all alone. It’s stressful and is taking a

toll on my anxiety. To calm down during long nights of packing and planning every draining detail

of my move, I turn on YouTube and load up a few videos of people gently whispering into a micro-

phone while tapping and brushing random things from around the house.

This is the world of ASMR, and

on the surface, these videos can

seem completely strange. A quick

search through YouTube will yield

endless results of people talking

intimately into microphones, fid-

dling with any object they can find

that “makes good sounds,” and

roleplaying seemingly mundane

scenarios like getting a checkup by

a soft-spoken doctor or receiving

a haircut as the sound of scissors makes gentle snips

around the camera.

These videos can get millions upon millions of

views on YouTube in a short amount of time, so what

exactly is going on here? What is ASMR and what

makes it so wildly popular?

THE BASICS

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Re-

sponse and describes a tingling sensation some people

experience on their skin — usually on the top of their