As part of my ongoing investigations into different media objects and how they manipulate and modulate our attention in the attention economy, I stumbled upon the genre of ASMR girlfriend roleplay videos and became fascinated with them. In these videos, uploaded on YouTube by ASMR artists, the performer plays the role of the viewer’s girlfriend and usually gives the latter personal care and attention and positive affirmations, which helps them sleep or relax.
I had the great honor of talking to the amazing virtual girlfriend Jasmine of Wokies ASMR, and asks her all kinds of questions about online versus offline life, privacy, loneliness and quarantine, sex with robots and the need for personal attention. It turned out to be a super interesting and open conversation, and you find the full interview here.