Here's why Gen Z watches everything with subtitles on
Gen Z and millennials regularly skim captioned videos on TikTok and Instagram because they grew up with social media. According to a recent YouGov survey, 61 per cent of viewers between the ages of 18 and 25 said they prefer to turn on closed captioning, even if they are not hard of hearing.
As the buzz gains momentum, TikTokers have begun to poke fun at their own viewing habits, claiming that without subtitles they can't focus on what they're watching.
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Growing caption demand
Fleur East, a former contestant on 'X Factor' and 'Strictly Come Dancing,' is one of many who have joined the trend. She recorded a video on TikTok watching TV with subtitles, but as soon as she took her eyes off the screen, the sound became inaudible.
Giulia Bianchi, a psychologist in London, told FEMAIL that because Gen Z and millennials’ brains are more adept at multitasking, they are more likely to choose subtitles.
Overall, she continues, using it as a visual aid improves comprehension of the broadcast by making it possible to analyze background noise or a sentence spoken in a softer tone that might otherwise have been overheard.
Dr Daria J Kuss, psychology professor at Nottingham Trent University, claimed in an interview with Stylist that the trend of people choosing captions on TV is influenced by the way people communicate via text messages and social media.
Dr Kuss went on to say that as a culture today, we watch TV and movies on smaller screens such as laptops or even smartphones while we are on the go.
OTT platforms and subtitles
The fourth season of the Netflix sensation 'Stranger Things' has been praised for its unusually detailed subtitles, which include descriptions of nearly every sound effect in the futuristic plot.
The description of the villain Vecna's ‘tentacles squelching’ left spectators in fits of laughter in particular. Yet, the detailed subtitles significantly improved the understanding of the episodes for hearing-impaired viewers.
