Makenna Kelly has a most unusual hobby. Not too many 13-year-olds, soon to be ninth graders, turn their bedrooms into TV studios. But, that's exactly what we discovered, when we dropped by to Makenna's home in Fort Collins, Colorado. HERE is where she records her ASMR videos which are meant to promote relaxation in viewers.
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "Yeah, it stands for autonomous sensory meridian response."
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "It's the sensation of when your mom or your friend will play with your hair and it kind of gives you the chills or the goosebumps."
In her case, it's sounds created with her voice and her fingernails on a variety of different surfaces. The tones are almost therapeutic and are meant to relax her viewers. Her "Life with MaK" channel has made her a YouTube sensation.
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "I just get a lot of comments, like it helps with anxiety and depression and whatnot. It's so crazy to me that whispering into a microphone can help so many people with something so big."
She got the idea a couple of years ago while watching other ASMR videos. She thought she'd try it herself.
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "Every time I'd wake up, I'd have like 50,000 more subscribers. I'm like, this is crazy."
She's up to nearly 1.6 million subscribers now. Her 275 videos have been viewed more than a hundred million times.
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "I think the last time I checked it was like 111 million, which is a lot. I know right. I think what sets my videos apart is just my personality. I'm really bubbly and I'm really honest and just truthful and I'm not afraid to show anything I do. I don't have anything to hide."
HENDRIK SYBRANDY DENVER "But almost two years after she began with all this, Makenna has encountered social media's dark side. According to her mother, YouTube has begun taking down some videos made by minors out of concern that pedophiles might be watching them."
Her most popular post of her eating a honeycomb was among those deleted.
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "I get hate comments but I can't really tell you any of them cause I don't look at them. I just ignore them. It just doesn't bother me. There's always going to be people that hate me for anything I do."
She has sponsors, sells merchandise and gets fan mail from her target audience: teenagers.
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "It's incredible. I run into my fans a lot, pretty much everywhere I go now."
Her YouTube wave hasn't crested just yet.
MAKENNA KELLY ASMR VIDEO CREATOR "I think it's just going to get bigger and bigger I'm hoping, and new things will be experienced with it each day."
It's all a prelude, Makenna says, to her eventual career. You can probably guess. Acting. Hendrik Sybrandy, CGTN, Denver.