Why Millennials and Gen Z love captions and subtitles

Millennials and Gen Z like having a choice when it comes to using captions and subtitles. Whether it is the desire to make sense of mumbling actors or to sort out dialogue from loud background noise in all kinds of videos, using subtitles for these digital natives has become a habit and a matter of convenience.

Same-language captions and multilingual subtitles are improvements viewers in these age groups seek and enjoy, but how did it all come about? It might be a combination of things.

Sharing content via social media first included a lot of photos, then short videos made with mobile phones, and later on more sophisticated home-made “productions” that in some cases included text on screen. By the time young people took to TikTok and YouTube, adding subtitles had become much easier and inexpensive.

Streaming services, starting with Netflix, recognized the usefulness and commercial advantages of subtitles long before the COVID pandemic forced everyone to beat confinement boredom with international movies and shows.

Bollywood and Japanese anime titles that had been on offer for established fans, suddenly found hundreds of thousands of new viewers from unsuspected places, thanks to subtitles. Other markets and series then took center stage, with series like Squid Games reaching cult-level viewership around the world.

What percentage of young adults prefer subtitles?

The preference for subtitles among young people, with most young adults aged 18-25 using them at least part of the time, was highlighted in a 2022 Guardian article, suggesting it has become a lifestyle choice. Recent surveys highlight a growing trend, particularly among young adults, of using captions and subtitles. For example, a 2023 YouGov survey confirmed that over a third of young adults prefer watching videos with subtitles, citing improved comprehension and understanding of accents as key reasons.

Captions aren’t just for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing anymore; they help everyone. Captions (and subtitles) provide a visual aid that helps viewers follow dialogue and enhances comprehension of spoken content more easily.

• Language learners can use captions as a tool to connect spoken words with their written form, improving vocabulary acquisition and comprehension. For instance, someone learning Spanish might use captions to link the audio to the written text, which helps reinforce vocabulary. Indeed, studies show that captions significantly improve reading skills and vocabulary recognition in children.
• Captions and subtitles also allow viewers to follow content when audio is unclear, muted, or when there is a great deal of background noise.
• Long and short-form video content can now be viewed in transit or unconventional places without disturbing others.
• Captions and subtitles also enable viewers to quickly grasp the essence of a video while simultaneously engaging in other activities.
• Captions and subtitles provide a sort of visual anchor that helps viewers stay focused and retain more information, ultimately enhancing content immersiveness.
• For young people, turning on captions or subtitles is more than just a fad, it is a content feature.

For all kinds of companies and individual creators offering video content, adding captions and subtitles is another effective way to connect with new audiences or increase existing reach.

Tracing trends in captioning and subtitling

In the era of shrinking attention spans, these forms of text on screen have actually become part of what can make content more impactful. Picture this: a viewer scrolls through a list of videos on a streaming platform, and a compelling caption in the video snippet makes them click on it. If that video not only makes good on its promise of engaging content, but also offers captions and subtitles, research shows that viewers will actually watch the video in its entirety.

Whether it is a short, funny skit on TikTok or a cooking show episode on YouTube, captions ensure that the message gets across even when viewers are unable to listen to the audio or prefer not to.

The ability to access content with captions and subtitles across multiple platforms and devices amplifies their importance:

• Viewers consume content on their phones, tablets, laptops, and TVs, often switching between devices throughout the day.
• Captions and subtitles provide a consistent and accessible viewing experience regardless of the platform or device, ensuring that no one misses out on key information.
• Seamless accessibility not only improves user experience but also expands the potential reach of content, as it can be enjoyed by anyone, anywhere, at any time.
• Content creators can reach global audiences by providing multilingual subtitles, allowing viewers from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds to engage with their work.
• Inclusivity, via captions and subtitles can foster a sense of community, undoubtedly opening up new markets for content creators, potentially leading to additional revenue streams, brand loyalty, and longer viewer retention.

Some trends have emerged along with the popularity of media platforms like TikTok, as both the ways in which viewers consume content and captioning and subtitling technology have evolved. Here the most important ones:

• Increased demand for accuracy and quality, with audiences becoming more discerning, expecting high-quality captions that are accurate and well-synchronized.
• Enhanced closed captions, which go beyond basic audio transcription to include richer descriptions of sound effects, music, and at times speaker identification.
• Emphasis on inclusivity, with a growing awareness of the need for content to accommodate diverse audiences including those with and without disabilities.
• Increased demand for real-time captioning, to ensure accessibility for all viewers during live events. For example, many YouTube channels offer live streams.
• AI is making captions faster and cheaper to produce, which means more content can be accessible to everyone. Human review ensures accuracy and quality.
• Increased use of subtitles for foreign language content, originating in many different countries.
• Captions for social media videos are essential for capturing attention and conveying information quickly and effectively.
• The availability of captions and subtitles is improving video content searchability (and, obviously, findability).

Many organizations, not just streaming services and content creators, are already taking advantage of these trends and using captions and subtitles to engage younger audiences.

Companies that have gained awareness of these trends have made them integral across diverse content types, including educational videos, online courses, explainer videos, social media stories, and advertising.

Educational institutions are offering captions to help students with learning disabilities or those learning a new language to better comprehend and internalize information.

Those and many more use cases highlight not just growing awareness of the trends, but also the recognition of captions and subtitles as a vital tool for viewer accessibility, inclusivity, and engagement.

This broader, ever increasing integration of captions and subtitles reflects a shift from accessibility compliance to value added feature across generations of viewers. And for organizations wishing to engage more audiences, adding captions and subtitles has never been easier.