When news breaks, you need to understand what matters β and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital.
We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today? Millions of people have watched a video of a woman whispering into a camera. She just whispers in a melodic voice and makes seemingly random hand movements. Yet millions of people are mesmerized by it.
This is the world of ASMR autonomous sensory meridian response. In this corner of the internet, dozens of video makers record themselves doing something as simple as whispering to elaborate sci-fi role-plays and developing storylines about time travel and demons , and millions of viewers gobble it all up. ASMR is the term for the sensation people get when they watch stimulating videos or take part in other activities β usually ones that involve personal attention.
Others say the feeling is deeply relaxing, and can even cause them to fall asleep. The term is believed to have been coined in by Jennifer Allen, who started a Facebook group dedicated to finding out more about it. The term quickly caught on, as people finally had a way to reference the pleasurable feeling they had been experiencing.
How ASMR works varies greatly from person to person. And the science on ASMR is basically nonexistent, so our understanding of it is so far based on anecdotes from around the internet. People get the feeling of ASMR from various triggers. Some people enjoy role-plays in which someone gives close personal attention and whispers, while others like videos that show incredibly mundane tasks such as spraying a water bottle , tapping , stirring a bowl of soup , or crinkling wrapping paper.
