In February 2010, Jennifer Allen - who used to work in the field of cybersecurity - coined the term "asmar" (ASMR) to describe the feeling resulting from hearing the sounds of some objects and phenomena such as the sound of waves, in addition to some other stimuli;

whisper between them.

The term is an acronym for the autonomous sensory meridian response, which describes feelings of relaxation, calmness, or sleepiness resulting from listening to certain stimuli that result in tingling and goosebumps, especially in the head.

Although there are no studies or scientific research proving the psychological impact of these audio-visual stimuli, the Nebraska Medical Center and University (an American non-governmental institution) published in April 2022 research on the psychological relationship between these clips and the psychological state of their followers, based on people's testimonies.

The research indicated that there are two studies;

The first was conducted in 2015, and the second was conducted in 2018. Both researched the psychological effects of the phenomenon (the response of the autonomic sensory channels “Asmar”) and the possibility of using it as a future tool to relieve symptoms of insomnia, depression or anxiety.

The research quoted David Warren, a researcher in neuroscience at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, stressing that there is no experimental evidence that the phenomenon of "Asmar" has permanent effects on mental health, pointing to the absence of clinical trials that prove the effectiveness of the effects resulting from this phenomenon.

The article concluded, "The fact remains that there are still relatively few scientific studies conducted to date, including the conditions that may lead to Asmar's condition." While the experiment may indeed involve a real physiological response, more is needed. From scientific research to begin to understand the nature of the phenomenon."

"Asmar"... a global entertainment phenomenon

The "Asmar" phenomenon has been the preserve of content makers from Western countries and East Asia for years, and a number of them have achieved millions of views on YouTube, and some clips have crossed the 100 million mark.

Audio and visual clips based on whispering, sounds of nature, the sound of eating food, and the sounds of objects are the most popular types of “Asmar” content, although opinions differ on the actual usefulness of it.

However, the last two years have witnessed the transmission of this phenomenon to the Arab world through a number of young content makers - the majority of whom are girls - who noticed the absence of any Arabic content for the "Asmar" phenomenon.

"Asmar" finds its way to the Arabs

Dania Hinnawi, famous for her channel (Dania Arabic ASMR) on YouTube, is one of the most famous content makers of the Arab "Asmar" phenomenon on social media platforms.

Hinnawi began producing this type of content more than two years ago, when she wanted to provide distinctive and not popular content among Arabs.

And she pointed out - in her interview with Al-Jazeera Net - the growing interest of the Arab viewer in this visual and audio phenomenon, especially with the start of a number of bloggers publishing content in the Arabic language.

She said, "During the past two years, there has been a major boom in the content industry (Asmar) in the Arab world, whether in terms of its providers, the tools they use, the topics covered, or even in terms of viewers and the growth of their numbers on various social media platforms."

Hinnawi attributed this development in interaction with the Arabic content of “Asmar” to the algorithms on communication platforms, especially “Tik Tok”, which forces its users without choosing from them to follow some of the video clips, which guarantees them higher views.

Hinnawi considered that the campaign in which she and a number of her colleagues participated in this field in the Arab world on "Tik Tok";

She is behind the growth of this phenomenon in the Arab world and the start of achieving wide fame.

And she added, "In the beginning, the viewer follows the (Asmar) content out of curiosity or has feelings of admiration or even rejection, but the few seconds in which he watches the content so that he can reach a decision whether to follow or refrain from it is sufficient to make the algorithms on (Tik Tok) nominate more for him." of similar content.

In the context, Hinnawi indicated that despite the rejection of this type of content by some, the number of its followers in the Arab world is increasing because the topics are closer to our reality and our language, and whispering in Arabic as well as English helps achieve the goal of "Asmar", which is to relieve tension and help sleep.

And she continued, "Asmar Al-Arab's followers, who used to resort to foreign content to relax, are starting to find an alternative in their original language, and indeed there is a growth in the number of views, especially from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Maghreb countries."

Hinnawi based her statements on the statistics of her YouTube channel and other platforms on which she publishes her content.

More than 190,000 people follow Hinnawi on YouTube, while her videos on TikTok have more than 100 million views.

Asmar content creation challenges

The production of "Asmar" content, whether based on whispering or the sounds of things, requires a lot of time, mental and physical effort, in addition to a microphone with high characteristics.

Hinnawi explained that she spends several days looking for an idea and a treatment angle, especially when she presents video clips based on multiple personalities, in addition to choosing objects that emit distinctive sounds that can be considered auditory stimuli.

In her speech to Al-Jazeera Net, she indicated that anyone who loves this content can start implementing it, provided that he is able to create his own personality, and that he succeeds in learning the basics that serve this content, starting with lighting, photography, and dealing with sound purification and montage tools.

Hinnawi considered that the financial return from Asmar's content comes mainly from YouTube ads, but the nature of this content makes it the lowest in the level of financial return compared to other electronic content.

She said, "The nature of the content and its aim is to achieve relaxation for the viewer and reduce stress levels, so there are restrictions on placing advertisements during the display of the video so that the viewer does not lose the desired psychological and visual state of the video."

On the other hand, Hinnawi saw that there are several challenges facing the producers of "Asmar" content, the first of which is dealing with the situation of ambient noise, which forces some creators of this content to change their places of residence or work during night hours to ensure calm, in addition to finding the appropriate psychological state.

And she saw that among the challenges;

The vocal cords of the creators of this content become lethargic with the long duration of working in a whisper and low voice.

On the other hand, Hinnawi talked about the exposure of "Asmar" content makers to "the worst kind of cyberbullying", especially against females.

She added to Al-Jazeera Net, "Most of the bullying comments come through "Tik Tok" and "Facebook", and I prefer not to fight a losing war because people will not stop talking or ridiculing what we offer, so I advise every content maker (Asmar) to feed his visual and auditory memory and continue to provide good content. It evolves with continuous learning.

Hinnawi stressed that the content of "Asmar" is still "strange" to the Arab public and needs some time for viewers to adapt to it and realize its purpose.