The TikTokification of ASMR
Creator CozyLotusASMR is taking things back to basics.
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Bravely sharing my first-ever freelance piece, but only because I just learned it’s cited in the official ASMR Wikipedia page! —Kate
In March 2013, I was on a long bus ride somewhere in England. Without an international data plan to keep me company, I was binging pre-downloaded episodes of This American Life when I was struck by a segment. It was about ASMR, something I had never heard of before, but quickly realized I was familiar with. The descriptions of a sort of hazy-fuzzy feeling in the brain were exactly how I felt in an English class with a particular professor, who had a very soft voice.
More than years later, ASMR has been embraced by viewers, brands, and celebrities alike, but it was an uphill battle. ASMR creators, or ASMRtists, are primarily women, and in the early days it was hard for them to escape being sexualized, or for their viewers to convince newcomers that what they were watching wasn’t porn. The videos, which involve anything from tapping to page-turning to whispering, are instead meant to provoke an “autonomous sensory meridian response,” a phrase coined by a forum user in 2010 in an attempt to lend the phenomenon more legitimacy—although it would take a few years before scientists started actually looking into it.
Now, ASMR basically has its own Rule 34: If you can think it or imagine it, there’s an ASMR video for it—especially on TikTok. Role-play videos, soap cutting videos, people playing with slime—even the beauty guru doing a quick tap of their nails on a bottle of serum is, knowingly or unknowingly, influenced by ASMR.
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Despite TikTok’s brief video format, it’s become a significant platform for ASMR, which shows up in basic standalone videos as well as elaborate livestreams that feature increasingly wacky props and impressive set design. Twenty-eight-year-old Sam of CozyLotusASMR, however, is taking it back to basics. The former art and photography student has been making videos across YouTube and TikTok for the past two years, earning over 400,000 followers on the latter thanks in part to her unique focus on nature and the outdoors. In this conversation, Sam and I talk about ASMR’s unexpected success as short-form video content, how the artform has changed over the years, and how she differentiates her work in an increasingly-saturated ASMR environment.
How did you first discover ASMR?
I think I was probably around a senior in high school, so it was about 2014. I'd come across a video...I wish I remember the creator's name because I would've loved to know who it was. I can't remember now though. And she was, I think, braiding her hair or brushing her hair or something along those lines. And I was like, “Wow, this is really relaxing. What is this?” And for a while I didn't even know what name it had. I didn't know it was a thing, really. And it just kept coming up. I kept seeing other videos, I kept watching, and eventually I was like, “Oh, this is a big part of my life.” I was using it every night to sleep, using it if I was stressed out. So I was watching it a lot and eventually I just was like, “I feel like I could give it a try.” I watched for years and I found that other creators had different styles. I started learning that like, “Oh, I don't have to show my face. I don't have to be talking,” things like that. So once I found my way to get into it comfortably, it just all started from there.
Did you first start posting on YouTube or TikTok?
It was actually YouTube with a different channel name many years ago. I had posted just a couple videos and then totally abandoned the idea. Like, “No, I can't do this.” And then once it became more popular on TikTok, I was like, “I've never even thought about reaching out to other platforms.” It had been mostly YouTube until that point. So I was like, why not just try it?
You mentioned that people have different styles. How would you describe your style, and how did you come to it?
I think as far as how I came to it, it just kind of grew over time. I don't think I have the exact same style as when I started. I think it comes from what you have to start with. Like, when I first started, all I had was my phone. I had no lights, no props, nothing. So at first my style was pretty lo-fi. I didn't have anything fancy to go along with anything. And as it's grown a little bit, it's kind of evolved into: how can I take lo-fi, nature-based stuff like that, but sort of work in higher quality mics or maybe a little bit more lighting? Stuff like that. So it's a mix of lo-fi with little hints of hi-fi stuff.
You post on both YouTube and TikTok. Have you come to learn after two years what does well on one versus the other?
Definitely. There's different audiences on both. People on YouTube, they're on there to search out an ASMR video. That's the point. It's not really coming across ASMR as much just randomly, because there's not really as much of a For You page on YouTube. So videos on YouTube do well when it's specific for that audience. On TikTok, though, people could come across that video and you have no control if they like ASMR, if they know what that is. So sometimes you need to post something there that's gonna grab somebody much faster, 'cause you have such a limited time to grab your audience. Whereas YouTube, they're there for that. You don't have to work so hard to grab their attention.
What do you think grabs them? Because it's almost an oxymoron to "grab someone" with ASMR.
I have found, especially more recently, it's like fighting with the algorithm. You really have to try and fight it every step of the way. But I found that if I post a video and within the first five seconds there's something visually interesting, and that whatever sound is happening within the first five seconds, if those two things work well together, the video is gonna do a little bit better. It's hard 'cause you have to balance trying to grab people and trying to get attention to your channel, but also like, I am providing a service. I want people to be comfortable and welcomed and not feel pressure.
Yeah. And it's so interesting on TikTok because you could be watching a dog video, then an ASMR video, and then after like 30 seconds of that, be back to something crazy. Maybe it's like a resting place for the brain, because TikTok can be so overstimulating. These videos are like a little brain break.
Exactly. I've wanted that to be like the main goal, especially for TikTok. Like we were saying with YouTube, people are going there at night usually, either before bed or if they're studying or something, and they're ready to settle in. Whereas TikTok, that's not really what they're there for. Maybe. But it's a very small audience that's there for that. More so it's just a little break in the doom scrolling.
How do you come up with your ideas? Do you sometimes just go with a camera and see what happens? Or do you get inspiration and note it down and do it later?
I do a combination of those things. I get a lot of inspiration from other ASMR artists. I still consume so much ASMR. Because it's sort of its own art style, people are doing versions of ASMR with everything, everywhere, all the time. So it's super inspiring to see what other people are coming up with. And I'll take that, I'll write it down, and I'll say, “Okay, how can I make this my style?” Because I know people are coming to me for that specifically. Or sometimes, like you said, I just grab my camera, grab a tripod and a mic, and go outside and see what happens, see if I can find inspiration there. Sometimes I'll be getting ready for bed and I'll just be like, ‘Oh, that's a great idea.’ Write that down real fast. So it kind of comes from everywhere.
And I always wonder when you're creating these types of videos, is the act of creating it meditative and relaxing? Or are there more logistics than we would think while watching it?
It depends fully on the video for me. If I'm filming something that I hate listening to, but I know other people want it, it's awful. It's the opposite of meditative. I'm just trying to get through it. But if it's something where it's like, “Oh, I like that sound too,” then a hundred percent it's super meditative to film. I never feel like I'm working.
How well do you know your viewers? Would you say you have a community?
Yeah, definitely. When I first started, one of the biggest important things to me was creating community and feeling like I knew who they were and they knew who I was. Some of the ASMR community is missing that, where it's just people focused solely on sounds and visuals, which is great. Some people want that. But for me specifically, I wanted community. And I wanted people to feel like there was a space for them to be in that was safe on the internet, basically. I spend a lot of time in my comment section. I reply to people all the time. I wanna know who people are that follow me. Plus, once I understand them, I feel like I can make better content because we're on the same vibe. I feel like I know them pretty well. I feel like they know me pretty well.
You mentioned community is something that can sometimes be lacking. How has ASMR changed as you've been with it? Or how do you maybe you hope it changes in the next few years?
I think it started as something that people were more likely to be ashamed of. Because truly, I mean, it is a little weird. It's like tapping on random stuff on the internet or whispering into a camera. I get it. That's a little weird. But I think the more people talk about it and they just open up a space for having communication about it, the more people are like, “Oh, it's actually a huge benefit for people who are struggling to sleep or with mental health or just anxiety,” anything like that. It's a huge help. And I hope it moves towards that even more. I hope it's more comfortable, that people talk about it, and I hope it's easier for people to accept. I think that's where we're headed.
I've seen one thing—I feel like I see it more in England—that is actual ASMR IRL spa-type places, putting it in the same bucket as a massage or a facial or something. It exists, but not in a broad way. I wonder if that'll happen or is there something about ASMR that is best experienced on a digital screen? I don't know.
I think it'll happen. I think we're moving towards that more like IRL—'cause people ask that, especially if there's channels or creators who focus on hair play, back scratching, anything like that where it's physical touch. There's constantly people in the comments who are like, “I wish there was a space for this. I wish there was a studio or something you could go to to have that done.” And I think we're moving towards that quickly. Because there are already people where you can go now and have your back scratched. Like that already exists and I think that's amazing. I can't wait to see that blow up. So yeah, I think we're getting there.
What about your work personally? Where do you see things headed?
I wanna do this full-time for the rest of my life, and I hope that's what continues to happen. As far as goals, I think I just wanna continue with what I'm doing so far. I wanna continue to build community. I would love to find a way to work it into art as well. If I could find a way to make it a physical space, maybe less of the physical touch stuff, but a physical space to go and experience ASMR with the community. I would love to make that happen someday.That's like a long term goal of mine.
Like an extension of other art popups but with relaxation more in mind.
Yeah, exactly. A little bit interactive and relaxing, but art-based. I think that'd be cool.