TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users as of 2022 according to TikTok Statistics You Need to Know in 2024. The app allows users to create and share short videos, often set to music. Captions have played an important role on TikTok, providing key accessibility features for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
Captions make video content accessible to those who are deaf or have hearing loss. They display text on videos synchronizing with the audio to convey dialogue, lyrics, sound effects, etc. On social media, captions allow users with hearing impairments to fully enjoy video content alongside hearing users. They are essential for creating an inclusive environment.
The Rise of Captions on TikTok
Captions started gaining major popularity on TikTok around 2019. While captions had been present on some videos before, they exploded as a trend that year. There are several reasons captions became so widely adopted on the platform:
First and foremost, captions increased accessibility for many users. Captions made TikTok videos understandable for those with hearing impairments and enabled users to watch videos in loud or quiet environments. Captions also aided understanding for users whose first language wasn’t English.
Captions quickly became a key part of TikTok comedy and humor as well. Punchlines and funny commentary layered on top of videos through captions took off as a hallmark of viral TikTok videos. Users recognized the comedic possibilities of captions early on.
Additionally, captions simply gave users another creative element to make videos visually engaging. Captions allowed blending multiple text perspectives, voices, and commentary sources within a single video. This opened up new possibilities for narrative storytelling and sketch comedy.
Research shows that captions resonated most strongly with Gen Z and Millennial audiences, TikTok’s core user demographics. This generation grew up with subtitles and captions readily available through streaming and digital content. So adding captions felt natural as a mode of consuming media.
TikTok’s Auto-Captioning Feature
In April 2020, TikTok launched an auto-captioning feature that automatically generates captions for videos uploaded to the platform (https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/introducing-auto-captions). This allowed creators to make their videos more accessible to viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing. The feature also benefits viewers who watch videos silently in public places or prefer reading captions instead of listening to audio.
TikTok’s auto-captioning uses automatic speech recognition technology to detect speech in a video and transcribe it into text captions. When a video is uploaded, the captions are generated on TikTok’s servers and then added to the video for display. Creators have the option to edit the auto-generated captions before publishing if there are any errors.
Initially, TikTok’s auto-captions were only available for videos uploaded in English and Japanese. But the feature was expanded to support additional languages over time. As of 2022, auto-captions can be generated in over 10 languages including Spanish, Portuguese, German and more (https://www.zdnet.com/article/tiktok-will-automatically-enable-captions-on-every-video-uploaded/).
By providing automatic captions, TikTok made video content more accessible to a wider audience. This auto-captioning feature was especially important in making the platform more inclusive for people with disabilities.
The Auto-Captions Backlash
Many creators criticized the quality of TikTok’s auto-captioning feature when it first launched. The automatically generated captions often contained embarrassing errors, such as random words or complete nonsense.
For example, in one video about makeup tips, the auto-captions transcribed the audio as “beauty blender is damp don’t look at my mustache.”1 The actual audio was the creator talking about blending foundation with a beauty blender. In another video, a creator was talking about making pierogi recipes, but the auto-captions transcribed it as “now we’re going to roll out the doggie.”
These types of errors made many creators reluctant to use the auto-captioning feature. However, manually adding captions was time-consuming. Some creators reported spending 30-60 minutes adding captions to a single short video.2 The poor quality of the auto-captions meant this manual work was still required to avoid posting videos with embarrassing or nonsensical captions.
The Decline of Manual Captions
As TikTok’s auto-captioning feature improved, the use of manual captions started to decline. Many creators found that the auto-captions were good enough that they no longer needed to take the time to manually add captions to their videos. According to one source, “Manual captions started declining as auto-captions rose” (https://www.captions.ai/blog-post/how-to-add-captions-to-your-tiktok-posts).
There were a few key reasons creators stopped bothering with manual captions:
- Auto-captions saved them time and effort compared to manually typing out captions.
- The auto-captions were reasonably accurate for short videos.
- Adding captions manually became seen as an accessibility option rather than a necessity.
- Creators focused more on quick and viral content rather than high quality, accessibility.
While auto-captions made things easier for creators, they came with downsides for accessibility, as we’ll explore next.
Accessibility Concerns
While automatic captions have helped expand accessibility, many have pointed out that they don’t fully replace manual captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.
Manual captions allow creators to clarify speech and provide more context through proper punctuation and capitalization. Auto-generated captions can be inaccurate or nonsensical. According to a 2021 report, auto-captions on TikTok were only 80% accurate, compared to near 100% accuracy for human transcriptions.
This means deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers still rely heavily on manual captions to fully understand and enjoy content. The decline of manual captions impacts accessibility and takes away key supplemental information.
Many deaf creators and viewers expressed concerns over auto-captions replacing human transcriptions. While auto-captions have helped expand access, they are an imperfect solution. As one deaf TikTok user said, “Auto-captions are better than nothing, but they don’t replace real accessibility.”
TikTok’s Response
TikTok has acknowledged that the quality of its auto-captioning feature needs improvement. In November 2022, TikTok’s product lead for accessibility, Rory Bell, stated that the company is “not yet fully living up to” the goal of making TikTok welcoming and accessible for all users (https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-auto-captions/).
In response to creator complaints and accessibility concerns, TikTok says it is actively working to enhance its auto-caption technology. As Bell explained, developing highly accurate speech-to-text for a diverse range of voices and accents is an ongoing challenge, but TikTok is investing resources into upgrading the feature (https://simplified.com/blog/video/tiktok-caption-generators). This includes improving caption formatting, accuracy for different languages, and speed of caption generation.
While acknowledging there is still progress to be made, TikTok aims to strike a balance between automation and human review to increase auto-caption quality over time. The company has encouraged creators to report caption issues as it works to refine the algorithms. TikTok remains publicly committed to ensuring its platform is inclusive for all users through improvements to accessibility tools like auto-captions.
The Future of Captions on TikTok
While TikTok’s move to auto-captions has made video content more accessible to some, many creators and viewers are hoping that manually added captions will make a comeback in the future. Auto-captions are convenient, but they are not always accurate, especially for content with niche terminology or accents. According to a ZDNet article, TikTok plans to continue improving its auto-caption technology, but it is unclear if an option for manual captions will return.
TikTok faces the challenge of balancing convenience and accessibility when it comes to captions. Auto-captions provide a baseline level of accessibility, but they cannot match the accuracy of manual captions tailored specifically for each video. However, manual captions require extra effort from creators. Moving forward, TikTok may need to find a middle ground, such as keeping auto-captions as the default but giving creators the option to override them with manual captions. This could allow TikTok to maximize accessibility while still being convenient for creators.
Overall, the future landscape of captions on TikTok remains uncertain. Viewers and creators who rely on accurate captions will be watching closely for any developments. TikTok has an opportunity to lead the way in online video accessibility, but only if it continues soliciting feedback from its diverse users and providing caption options that meet all needs.
Key Takeaways
The rise and fall of captions on TikTok can be summarized as follows:
Captions became very popular on TikTok as creators used them to enhance their videos. However, after TikTok introduced auto-captioning, many creators stopped manually adding captions. This caused backlash from some viewers who found the auto-captions to be lower quality. There were also concerns about reduced accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing users.
Moving forward, high-quality auto-captions will be important on TikTok. The auto-captions need to be accurate so that videos remain accessible. TikTok may need to improve the auto-caption technology and allow creators to edit the captions. The future of captions on TikTok remains uncertain, but accessibility should be a top priority.
Conclusion
In summary, captions became extremely popular on TikTok as creators used them to enhance their videos and make them more engaging. However, TikTok’s introduction of auto-captions caused backlash from creators and viewers who found them to be inaccurate and distracting. Many creators stopped manually adding captions as a result. This has raised concerns about TikTok’s commitment to accessibility, as auto-captions are not yet a sufficient replacement for high-quality manual captions. TikTok says it is working to improve auto-captions but has not provided a timeline. The future of captions on TikTok remains uncertain. On one hand, captions play an important role in making content accessible and engaging. But on the other hand, creators seem to be moving away from manual captioning. TikTok will need to find a solution that balances accessibility, creator expression, and convenience if captions are to thrive on the platform again.
In closing, the rise and fall of captions on TikTok highlights the ongoing tension between automation and human creation. While auto-captions provide convenience, they lack nuance and can detract from the viewer experience. At the same time, expecting creators to manually caption all videos is a big ask. As AI technology improves, auto-captions may eventually be good enough to replace manual ones. But for now, the best solution may be a hybrid approach that combines auto-captions with human review and editing. TikTok’s handling of captions will be an interesting test case for how platforms balance automation with human creativity.
