The majority of Gen Z uses subtitles when watching TV shows and films, a poll has found.
The captions, usually intended for the hard of hearing, are more popular with 18 to 24-year-olds than with any other age group, with explanations for turning them on ranging from struggling to concentrate because of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to mumbling actors.
The YouGov poll, which questioned 35,753 people, found that 53 per cent of 18-24-year-olds watch TV shows and films with subtitles on, as opposed to 39 per cent who watch without them.
Just 22 per cent of people aged 65-74 polled, and 31 per cent of over 75-year-olds use subtitles, despite hearing loss being much more common in those age brackets.
According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, nearly 80 per cent of people aged above 70 have hearing loss.
One female participant in the 18-24 age bracket said they used them because “I have ADHD and it’s helpful to have them there just in case”.
The Telegraph asked the charity ADHD UK whether people with the disorder are more likely to need them and, although it said it did not have scientific research to suggest as much, some people felt subtitles were helpful given their condition.
Daran, a 47-year-old from Reading, told The Telegraph: “Subtitles help me understand things my brain didn’t hear.”
Amy Cocksedge, in her mid 20s, explained: “As someone with ADHD who is also partially deaf, I find subtitles so helpful. I often either cannot hear or cannot process what has been said quickly enough.
“Subtitles help me stay on track with what’s going on in films and TV shows etc.”
Lauren O’Carroll, 42, added: “Subtitles help me to maintain focus and catch up when my mind drifts (which happens frequently).
“They also help me to fight the temptation to dual screen.”
Kieren, a 38-year-old from Sunderland, said: “At first I didn’t like when my wife used subtitles as they pulled my focus away from the film or programme, but now I love how they let me quickly catch the lines I’ve missed when my attention drifts.”
Chris Hurcombe, 50, added: “Subtitles can help me to follow dialogue, when my sensory processing difficulties make it hard to filter out music or sound effects.”
The YouGov poll gave more examples of why teenagers use the text, with one woman in the 18-24 age bracket saying: “I personally just struggle to concentrate sometimes and it helps me keep on top of the dialogue.”
The poll split answers into categories such as: “Dialogue hard to hear”, “not wanting to miss anything/following the plot”, “habit/left on by default”, “accents”, “background or household noise” and “hearing difficulty”.
People aged 25-34 are the next most likely to watch TV with subtitles on; 46 per cent use them while 48 per cent do not.
55-64-year-olds are the most likely to avoid using the text versions of spoken dialogue, with 76 per cent saying they do not use them as opposed to 20 per cent who do.
Numerous participants said that they struggled to hear mumbling dialogue.
One woman, aged over 55, said: “Actors mumble on TV nowadays. I can watch old programmes without subtitles, but modern programmes involve too much realist [sic] acting”.
A male in the same age category added: “I use them because I have an old TV and the dialogue can be indistinct. I also think modern films tend not to mix dialogue to be easier to hear. Christopher Nolan is well known for this.”
Nolan’s latest film, The Odyssey, was criticised by cinema-goers because the soundtrack and sound effects were too loud and obscured dialogue.
“Because the sound mixing today is awful on most shows and movies”, explained one man, aged between 35 and 44.
Another popular reason for using subtitles proved to be accents – both British and non-British.
One female respondent, aged above 55, said: “Foreign accents, northern Irish, Liverpool, up north generally.”
Another in the same demographic explained: “Some Indian accents and northern accents and Irish accents.”
Background and household noise were cited as another excuse, with a man aged between 35 and 44 saying his reason was “dogs barking, children making noise etc”.
A spokesman for the British Film Institute (BFI) said: “In one of our recently published reports from our Audience Screen Engagement Tracker series, ‘Small Screens, Big Focus’, found that a significant majority (58 per cent) of 16-24-year-olds agreed with the statement ‘I use subtitles or closed captioning when watching films or TV programmes, regardless of the device I’m watching on’.
“While the BFI doesn’t have a specific point of view or statement on this matter, the above report hypothesised this could be driven by the widespread use of text captions in social media videos, and an increase in dual-screening. Quite simply this could suggest audiences are much more used to and now very comfortable with subtitles, which I think is great news for those who are D/deaf and hard of hearing.”