Titles as a factor of addressee’s verbal tension in the context of shifting perception modalities

INTRODUCTION. In the modern media space, the auditory channel is increasingly being replaced by the visual-text channel, and the kinesthetic component is being reduced. This changes the addressee’s cognitive and communicative reactions. The purpose of the study is to confirm the hypothesis of a shift in the hierarchy of modalities during consumption/the creation of video content with captions by media addressees/media addressees and the possibility of the formation of a “verbal tension” of communication participants as a result of this phenomenon. The object of research is titles and the modern practice of their production. The subject is the practice of consuming/displaying titles and its impact on the transformation of the process of perception of information by modalities. MATERIALS AND METHODS include an interdisciplinary approach (psychology of perception, theory of polymodal discourse), as well as a comparative analysis of intertitles on short video platforms, elements of content analysis and a case study (parallel titles in talk shows; game chat as an analog of titles in Black Russia). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Two vectors of the shift are considered: from the auditory representational system to the visual one and from the kinesthetic to the digital one. It is proved that the consumption of information from short videos is based on the digital principle; compression of utterances (short phrases, reduced syntax) reflects the practice of “silent” content consumption; emotional tension, unable to escape through an auditory or kinesthetic channel, is concentrated verbally and manifests itself in the use of apocopa (truncation), youth slang, speech aggression in general, profanity, provocative statements marking offense, accusation, taunt, interruption of communication, as well as in a number of other signs. CONCLUSION. It is proved that the shift of perception modalities increases cognitive load and provokes “verbal tension”. The results are applicable in developing titles, forming media competence, and assessing the risks of video content for teenagers.