Pagan winter celebration sharing its name with a popular

“Despite some hating the noises, the internet has blown up with a variety of ASMR videos that even attracted the attention of celebrities and magazines H ow did ASMR videos flood YouTube and manage to get a spotlight in the media? If you enjoy the sound of someone chewing loudly, whispering softly in your ear or tapping their nails against a table, then you will probably be a fan of ASMR.

ASMR is short for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, which is a reaction or feeling some people get to specific things they hear or watch. Not everyone feels it but the ones who do, often explain that it feels like “tingles” moving down from the top to the bottom of the body, and results in a person feeling more relaxed and sleepier.

Although the trend might sound a little strange, ASMR has grown very popular in recent months, especially on YouTube. There is a variety of ASMR videos as people find that different things appeal or trigger them. In a video, the group of people who call themselves “ASMRists” might include one or multiple ASMR triggers. They will closely record sounds such as quiet whispering, tapping, eating, turning book pages, crackling noises, microphone brushing, applying makeup, or even pouring marbles on the floor.

There are also niche genres which include things like slime, peeling soaps and even roleplay, where ASMRists dress up as doctors or beauticians. Before ASMR was this popular, it was still used by many for a therapeutic reason as the “tingles” can give a sense of comfort and calmness.

ASMR however, is the opposite of Misophonia, which is where people are particularly sensitive and dislike the sound of eating or heavy breathing, and where it can cause them to have emotional distress or anger.

Despite some hating the noises, the internet has blown up with a variety of ASMR videos that even attracted the attention of celebrities and magazines. The best-known publication to go along with the trend was W Magazine, who decided to start doing interviews using ASMR. They brought ASMR’s biggest fan, rapper Cardi B, to do an interview in the style of a whispering ASMR video, as she confessed that she listens to them every night.

She isn’t the only one, as Billie Eilish, Emma

Stone and Ashton Kutcher all said they were big fans of ASMR, the series of interviews became very popular, especially Cardi B’s, which hit more than 31 million views on YouTube.

It all began on YouTube as early as 2013, but it reached its peak in the last few months. Some of the most famous ASMR youtubers are SAS-ASMR (8.7m), Zach Choi ASMR (5.45m) and Gentle Whispering ASMR (1.78m). Creating an ASMR channel is not a bad idea as right now on YouTube there are around 13 million videos from all around the world which prove it’s an area of interest as well as a lucrative one. Youtuber Gentle Whispering is estimated to make at least $130,000 a year.

So, if you’re sick of your part time job, why not make an ASMR channel? Or if you’re feeling stressed coming up to exams, don’t bother listening to Enya, instead stick on some noises of tapping and whispering and you might be surprised about how fast you’ll feel relaxed.

Rachel Power outlines how inflation works for the benefit of retailers A s Christmas approaches in the coming weeks, shopping centres can become far too crowded for most of us to handle, so online shopping is the next best option. But online shopping, while handy, can be quite dangerous too. While most online sites like Amazon, Missguided and sites for existing, physical shops are generally safe, some sites with unique products that make for nice Christmas presents are worth a second check. Safe, well-known sites can often have a less threatening appearance, but can cost you more than you mean to spend through a popularly used computer term called ‘cookies’.

Many sites as we all know, frequently have little pop ups screens that appear once you click into the page that requires you to accept or deny these cookies. Some sites will not let you progress further into the pages without accepting these but it’s worthwhile to know what they are and how they work.

Cookies are text files that you can access from your PC and contain the name of the sites you have visited as well as your own user ID. when you visit a site that you have never been on before, a cookie downloads to your PC or phone, if you’re using safari. The next time you visit the site, the system checks and updates this cookie, according to an article by the BBC.

Airline companies are known for using cookies to their own benefit, with Ryanair being a prime example. If you search for a certain flight, from a certain airport to a location on a certain date one day, the price will be for example €20. If you continue to search this exact same flight including the same details a number of times on the same device and the same login, eventually you may notice the price will begin to rise.

This is because cookies are tracking your activity, and companies are using them to learn more about what it is you’re looking for and benefiting from it financially.

The Daily Mail published an article earlier in the year detailing the new algorithm online websites are using to inflate their prices automatically.

Self-learning algorithm schemes, known as “Al systems” are able to learn from each other’s behaviour online and in turn, have the ability to increase product prices automatically to compete with other online e-commerce retailers without any need for human interaction.

These systems primary goal for retailers is to “maximise profit,” according to the article.

These algorithms set with a goal to maximise profit experiment with different strategies in simulated situations to find the best strategy that works and then apply it to online systems.

Similarly to the Ryanair example, other sites adopt these Al systems to fix their product pricing automatically through learning about the market and its constant changes.

There isn’t much we can do about them, but simply knowing they exist is safer than being unaware.

Some great ways to protect yourself when online shopping with companies you’re not fully sure about the safety of are using a different pay system rather than just giving access to your bank details. PayPal is a brilliant option that most sites offer as an alternative payment method and ensures the safety of your money.

Shopping online at any time of the year can be fun as well as dangerous so it’s always important to be aware of how to protect yourself online and understand how online pricing works so you can save that extra bit of cash. “ If you continue to search this exact same flight including the same details a number of times on the same device and the same login, eventually you may notice the price will begin to rise