Captions on TikTok are just as important as entertaining content. TikTok content is becoming more multidimensional as young people use the platform to form communities and spearhead change, and a number of influencers, content creators, and young TikTok users are adding text to their clips using eye-catching fonts and colors to grab viewers’ attention while amplifying their storytelling. TikTok’s closed captioning hashtag (#cc) currently boasts more than 4 billion views, and “it’s part of a general trend to more fully represent reality,” according to Martin Hilbert, a UC Davis communications professor. Subtitles are now a prominent feature of the app, with a mix of factors influencing how people absorb content on the app, like the incentive structures that motivate influencers to produce specific types of content, to widespread shifts in how people consume online media, and advocacy for disability rights groups. (LA Times)
