The Reason Gen Z Loves Subtitles Isn't A Hearing Problem, Study Shows

A recent survey conducted by AP-NORC in 2025 with over 1,000 adult participants showed that over one-third of the U.S. population always or often uses subtitles and closed captions. This number increases for younger adults, with 40% of those ranging from ages 18 to 44 always or often using the feature, and almost 70% using it at least sometimes. Why exactly are so many people using subtitles now, and why are younger people — mainly Gen Z — much more likely to use closed captions?

Younger people today are at a higher risk of hearing problems than those in prior generations, an issue that researchers are using gene therapy to tackle. This is due to more exposure to loud sounds from using earphones like the AirPods Max 2 or AirPods Pro 3 at full volume, as well as noise pollution from living in urban areas. 

However, this likely isn't why Gen Z often uses closed captions, or at least not the only reason. If it were, then there'd be no need to use captions while wearing earphones. Similarly, if this were the case, older generations would've shown much higher rates of subtitle usage, and the data shows that they don't. What's more likely is that Gen Z loves subtitles because of a mixture of more frequent phone use (often in public places), the normalization of closed captions on social media, multitasking, and more of a variety in what to watch.

One major disadvantage of subtitles is that you cannot fully enjoy each scene if your eyes are constantly moving between the subtitles and what is being shown. This certainly is true for bigger screens, but isn't as big of an issue on the relatively smaller screens of smartphones — which younger adults more commonly use to consume media.

Similarly, if you're browsing through Netflix's new Clips section or watching YouTube in public, you might not want to turn up your volume to listen to what's being said, or there might simply be too much external noise to hear the video even if you do turn it up or use earphones. Since this happens often enough, it makes sense that it creates a habit of using subtitles more often.

Beyond that, most social media apps now offer closed captions. In many short-form videos on TikTok or Instagram Reels, the captions are embedded into the video itself, increasing user reliance on them. Subtitles also help when you're multitasking or simply not able to focus, as text can be easier to read and comprehend. The higher variety of things to watch also adds to this. You might not need subtitles if you're only watching movies in English, but there's now a larger number of people experiencing non-English content — K-dramas, anime, and story-driven games — which isn't always dubbed.