THREE KEY FACTS ASMR videos, popular with Gen Z, are designed to relax and soothe through sensory stimulation. Revealing Reality reports 30% of 18- to 24-year-olds watch ASMR , compared to 1% of over-65s. Experts warn that over-reliance on ASMR for social needs may be unhealthy in the long term.
Videos that trigger what is known as the autonomous sensory meridian response are fast becoming Gen Z’s favourite way to switch off. The Telegraph ’s Jack Rear tries to understand the appeal of ASMR. “We were talking about the anxiety, you know, the intense anxiety of daily life, or life things,” whispers a young American woman as she gently wafts a makeup brush across the screen, taking a second to click long, manicured fingernails against its shaft.
Via a powerful microphone, I can hear every squelch of saliva as she speaks, every thrum of her lips rubbing across each other, every pop and click of plosive and velar consonants. “You’re going to be okay,” she continues, though, I’m not sure I feel the same watching this. Perhaps that’s my age showing.
According to a new report from behavioural insights agency Revealing Reality, Gen Z are obsessed with this type of video. Carefully crafted to provoke ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) – a neurological reaction beginning with a tingling across the scalp, which moves downwards through the shoulders and spine – these videos aim to relax and soothe viewers..