ASMR VTubers concerned for YouTube future after \u201cpuritanical\u201d policy change YouTube: Secret Subject \/ YouTube: MiilkywayzYouTube\u2019s latest policy change regarding ASMR content on the platform has left a number of VTubers concerned. Creators claim the \u201cpuritanical\u201d update could force them to abandon their artform and find another niche on the platform to survive. ASMR has been a capstone of YouTube content for the better half of a decade. Hidden away in its own corner of the website, users can look up a number of videos of hushed whispers or discrete sounds, all bottled up into various different scenarios. Viewers of ASMR content swear by the feelings of relaxation it invokes. While there are more \u201ctriggers\u201d for the response than just whispering, the soft spoken voice is the best conveyed in video content, and creators have built entire careers on the practice. One such creator is Secret Subject, who has 80,000 subscribers on YouTube for her ASMR and hypnosis content. She was originally doing just hypnosis before jumping into ASMR in 2020. She then added VTubing into the mix in 2021 because \u201cit looked fun\u201d and it allowed her faceless content to thrive. \u201cI joined [the ASMR community] because at the time I wanted to pivot my channel into faceless content and it seemed like a cool and creative space to be in which was very successful for my channel and is now what I am more known for,\u201d she recounted to Dexerto. \u201cIt is a sleep aid, it is a comfort, it is a way to experience something you couldn\u2019t or wouldn\u2019t in real life. I use it to educate people on topics and situations and to have a fun time. I think for those who like it, it\u2019s a really great way to unwind and relax.\u201d However many only see the other, smaller side of ASMR \u2014 the sexual tie-in \u2014 and that\u2019s the line YouTube is trying to cut. While practically all ASMR content on the Google-owned platform is non-sexual in nature, there have been subtle attempts to silence it. Earlier in 2022, NIJISANJI VTuber Mashiro was banned on the platform for an undisclosed reason, having to start his account from scratch. On the same day, a number of the agency\u2019s other talents deleted their ASMR content in the aftermath due to a policy change. A YouTube spokesperson at the time said there was no update recently, and the platform \u201chas a long standing policy that disallows content that involves sexualization of minors,\u201d but made no comment on ASMR itself. However, a September 7 update to YouTube\u2019s policy on nudity and sexual content is pushing ASMR artists towards leaving the platform. A Community Manager said \u201cwith this policy update, more content from TV shows, movies, and other fictional settings will be allowed on the platform as long as it has the proper context and doesn\u2019t cross the line of sexually gratifying content.\u201d But there was a specific restriction placed on ASMR creators: \u201cWe\u2019ve strengthened our policies to better identify and action ASMR content that is sexually gratifying. ASMR videos with audio sexual sounds may be age-restricted or removed from the platform.\u201d It\u2019s a broad brush, and creators are already feeling the effects. Videos that include \u201ctouching, hugging, massage, and especially kissing\u201d are in the platform\u2019s sights according to Secret Subject. What those noises actually are, and the subjective way of policing them, have ASMR VTubers fearing the policy change could lead to the downfall of the artform. There\u2019s a big emphasis in the ASMR space on roleplaying and navigating through specific stories and scenarios. For YouTube content, many creators do their best to ensure it\u2019s not sexual. While there are some topics that toe the line, there is a distinct difference between erotic role play and just teasing. \u201cThe reason it\u2019s very popular is not because people listen to it for achieving some kind of sexual gradification,\u201d fellow VTuber Miilkywayz, who has made ASMR content for 18 months, told Dexerto. Milky described the policy change as \u201cextremely disheartening\u201d. The VTuber had plans to move her streams from Twitch to YouTube after \u201cseeing the potential\u201d in the platform, but policy changes like these are making her second guess that decision. \u201cI may be concerned about uploading ASMR content on my main YouTube channel from now on,\u201d she continued. \u201cFor VTubers that stream on YouTube mainly, I can see it definitely affecting their choices of creating ASMR content. They may even seek out to take that type of content to another streaming platform. \u201cTruth be told, no one wants to wake up to having their entire channel demonetized or terminated over an ASMR video they recently uploaded or streamed.\u201d The line has shifted so many times though for creators, it\u2019s practically impossible to know what situations are acceptable for the platform until YouTube deems it inappropriate and demonetizes it \u2014 or puts a strike on the creator\u2019s account. \u201cIn the last year alone I\u2019ve had about 30 of my videos age restricted,\u201d Secret Subject explained. \u201cBecause I dabble in dominant characters, I assumed it was that making this happen however now some of my most SFW content is the one being blocked. \u201cFor example I have a cat girl hugging and nuzzling hypnosis RP that was age restricted, and when I appealed it was denied in under a minute. This new policy is just adding to the list of things we can\u2019t do. Already so much is put down to context, but apparently even within the context of an audio play, that\u2019s not good enough for YouTube to consider before letting our content take a hit, especially monetarily. \u201cWhile it\u2019s not about the money for me, as I love giving people free content, some of my videos have over 100,000 views and I\u2019m making no money from them.\u201d The constant crackdown on ASMR content while other sexually suggestive content makes waves on the platform has content creators feeling specifically targeted by YouTube. There\u2019s a knowledge gap between those within the space and those outside who hold the moderation powers. \u201cIt makes complete sense YouTube would find ASMR content easier than other problematic content that often can be hard to find with search terms,\u201d Milky said. \u201cASMR will always be under ASMR.\u201d Milky\u2019s anecdote isn\u2019t an isolated one \u2014 the bad wap ASMR gets means creators are looking for a new home. Some already have Patreon accounts where they can do both SFW and adult content. Twitch is also more accepting of the practice, as long as the visual aspect doesn\u2019t break the Terms of Service. Regardless of whether there\u2019s a reversal of the policy or not, ASMR content creators still feel unfairly treated \u201cwhen it comes to decisions on restrictions, demonetization and strikes,\u201d Secret Subject admitted. If these ASMR artists want a future on YouTube, they believe they\u2019ll have to abandon their roots entirely. \u201cIf they were open with where the lines were drawn it would be better, but also I think the puritanical control will be their downfall here,\u201d Secret Subject said. \u201cCreators are not happy. We talk to each other and share in the issues we see and face and the limits are being so tightly placed now that most scenarios are off limits.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve been [doing] YouTube full time since 2019 and it really makes me question if I made the right choice. It\u2019s been tiring talking to Google employees who can\u2019t tell me directly what to fix to sort my issues and realistically if any of us want longevity on the platform we might need to look into another niche entirely.\u201d At the end of the day though, these ASMR content creators just want to be understood like any other star on YouTube. Their content serves a big enough audience to make a living, but they feel like the walls are coming in on what is a misunderstanding of the space, and it\u2019s threatening their livelihoods. \u201cI wish people understood that ASMR is not creepy, weird, or always sexual,\u201d Secret concluded. \u201cWhile some of us do NSFW work on the side, we understand the line and limiting ourselves more and more creatively strips our autonomy to create work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ASMR VTubers concerned for YouTube future after \u201cpuritanical\u201d policy change YouTube: Secret Subject \/ YouTube: MiilkywayzYouTube\u2019s latest policy change regarding ASMR content on the platform has left a number of VTubers concerned. Creators claim the \u201cpuritanical\u201d update could force them to abandon their artform and find another niche on the platform to survive. ASMR has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}