I have created a new page for the website that covers the history of ASMR. It highlights some of the major events from 2008 to the present in a timeline format.
The first part of the page presents a brief view of the history. It is just a bullet list of key dates and events.
The second part of the page presents an expanded ‘witness the history’ version of the timeline. This longer version includes quotes and excerpts from key moments as they happened, such as:
The event was scheduled for Saturday, September 19th, 2015 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, USA.
Unfortunately, the event has now been canceled.
Tickets sales for the event were being done through Kickstarter. This means that if the fundraising goal is not met then the event or project usually does not occur.
The initial rate of tickets sales for the event started off too slow to show a strong probability of meeting the fundraising goal.
The organizers of the event, Paige Towers and Bryan Shigekawa, provide some insight about the challenges with the event planning, as well as their heartfelt apologies for canceling the event.
The link to their explanation is below.
Shawn Watkins is a graduate student in the Communication department at Angelo State University located in Angelo, Texas.
He is interested in the cultural phenomenon of ASMR, including common themes and word meanings that have developed within the ASMR community. Shawn did a literature search on this topic and wrote up a paper about his perspectives and findings for one of his communication classes.
His paper investigates the ASMR community through the lens of Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory.
He has agreed to share his paper and annotated bibliography to help others whom are researching ASMR or are trying to understand ASMR better. A link to his paper is included at the end of this post.
Shawn also agreed to answer some questions about his paper. He shares his inspiration for the paper, his favorite ASMR artist, his objectives for the paper, the most surprising thing he learned about ASMR, and more.
Below are my questions in bold and his replies in italics.
Imagine over 1000 people at a convention. Every person is there because they share an appreciation, a passion, a commitment, and/or a genuine curiosity for ASMR.
The attendees are expected to be ASMR artists, ASMR fans, health professionals, scientists, researchers, and all those with a deep interest in ASMR.
The activities will most likely include Q&A with popular artists, round tables on the art and culture of ASMR, panel discussions on mental health, presentations with results of ASMR research, and demonstrations of the best equipment and technology for creating and enjoying ASMR.
Desiring something more interactive and deeply relaxing? This opportunity for live group ASMR sessions will probably not go wasted.
And of course, expect to mingle, meet, and get to know the heart of the ASMR community.
I started with “imagine” because it has not happened yet. The ink (and sweat) has just dried on getting the venue booked, the dates set, and the website created.
Want to know more details? Read on.
Dr. Rob Gallagher is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of English at King’s College in London. He has his Ph.D. in Humanities and Cultural Studies and is involved with a group research project investigating the influence of the internet on identities.
Dr. Gallagher is specifically looking into how the culture and language of ASMR developed, how people integrate ASMR experiences into their online identities, and how those who feel “tingles’ describe their experience.
Dr. Gallagher explains how interviewing ASMR artists gave him great insight into the art of ASMR, gives examples of how the media and academics approach ASMR differently, and shares information about a forthcoming podcast about ASMR.
Below are my questions in bold, followed by his replies in italics.
The book is authored by Julie Young and Ilse Blansert.
Julie is a freelance writer and author, and Ilse is a popular ASMR artist known as TheWaterwhispers. Together they tackled the topic of ASMR from every angle to create the most comprehensive book yet about ASMR.
Does the book include scientific theories about ASMR? You bet.
What else can be found in the book? A whole lot more. See below.
Julie Young and Ilse Blansert have finished writing “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR” which should be available in May. You will be able to buy it everywhere books and e-books are sold.
Julie is a freelance writer and author, and has previously published The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Catholicism, Historic Irvington, and the young adult novel Fifteen Minutes of Fame.
Below are my questions to Julie in bold, followed by her replies in italics.
My co-investigators and I are still collecting data for our on-going ASMR research survey (information about that research survey HERE).
But I do have some data to share from my website polls.
Below are responses from visitors to this site who answered the polls on the “First Time Visitor?” page. There were 130-161 respondents for each question.
The majority of poll takers:
If you would like to see the full data from the polls, including which responses were least selected, then keep reading.
Interested in participating in some ASMR research?
I am collaborating with members of asmr-research.org on an on-line survey that may be the first published, global, demographic study about ASMR.
The survey is not only for those who experience ASMR, but it also for those who don’t experience ASMR or may not even know if they do experience ASMR. Comparing these different groups of people will help us to understand ASMR even better.
Author Julie Young and ASMR artist Ilse Blansert are collaborating on the first book from a major publisher about ASMR titled, “Complete Idiot’s Guide to ASMR.”
Julie has experienced ASMR for a long period of time and brings her extensive author experience and deep interest about ASMR to this endeavor.
Ilse is an ASMR artist (AKA The Water whispers) with over 120,000 followers on YouTube, so you can expect she will be providing some of the best understandings and perspectives about ASMR to be found anywhere.
ASMR University 