What’s With All the Screenshots?
I take a lot of screenshots. Like, way too many. Why do I do it, and what will I do about it?
I’ve had my phone for five years.
It’s the first cell phone I’ve ever owned – an iPhone 6 purchased in August 2017 by my parents (thanks, Mom and Dad!). That model was a generation or two old when I got it. Now, my phone is at the point where it can no longer update to the latest operating systems – meaning I can’t download a lot of new apps, and some of the apps that I need for school and work will soon stop working.
So, it’s time to upgrade to a new phone.
In preparation for this transition, I’ve been trying to offload and save some data from my current phone. Photos take up the vast majority of my storage space.
And most of those photos are screenshots.
A lot of them.
Like, wayyyy too many.
I can’t remember the exact total now, but I believe the number of photos on my phone peaked somewhere around 11,500. Now, I’m down to around 7,500 after deleting several old screenshots and moving pictures I wanted to keep to my laptop. Still a lot, but it’s quite an improvement.
This process of moving and deleting photos has made me realize that I have a bit of a screenshotting problem. I don’t think this is entirely my fault; screenshotting is part of how my generation communicates. If I see a funny meme I want to send to a friend, I screenshot it. If I see a news headline I want to share with someone, I screenshot it. If I see a pretty photograph, inspiring quote, or thought-provoking post, I screenshot it. Screenshot, screenshot, screenshot.
(Man, I’ve typed ‘screenshot’ so many times that it doesn’t even look like a word anymore.)
It all accumulates at a somewhat alarming rate. Just today, as I write the first draft of this article, I’ve taken 15 screenshots. That doesn’t sound so bad, but in the past week, I’ve taken 167.
I’m not the only one who captures what they see while scrolling so often. While researching this piece, I found a r/ADHD thread on Reddit where other people were discussing the number of screenshots they take. One commenter even wrote that they had over 20,000. Though I don’t have ADHD like the commenters on this post, this thread shows how common screenshotting is and how easy it is for these images to pile up and take up precious storage space.
I tried to do more research using the databases I can access through my university. However, I struggled to find scholarly articles or studies focusing on how many screenshots the average person takes and why we take so many. For this reason, rather than try to figure out why people take so many screenshots in general, I think it’s better to focus on myself.
So, what’s the deal here? Why do I feel the need to capture and save so many things I see on my phone? What can I do to minimize the number of screenshots I take? Do I actually need or want to change my habits?
One element that plays a significant role in the number of screenshots I take is the amount of time I spend on my phone daily. It’s nothing shocking to say that we spend a lot of time on our phones. This BBC article from January of this year reported that we use our phones for an average of almost five hours per day and that most time spent using apps is “spent on social, photo and video apps.” Many of us rely on smartphones and social media to do our jobs, keep in touch with loved ones, and keep up to date on news and current events.
This week, I’ve averaged three hours and 14 minutes of screentime on my phone daily. I’ve used Instagram for nearly eight hours and Facebook for almost three hours. Most screenshots I take are of things I see on Instagram and Facebook. Maybe if I reduce my screentime, that will, in turn, reduce my screenshot buildup.
But I don’t think my excessive screen time is the only factor that impacts the number of screenshots I take.
Two other personal issues are at play here: object attachment and a need for control.
Have you ever tried to get rid of clutter but struggled because you found it hard to part with certain objects? I’ve been there, too – not only with physical objects but also with screenshots. During this process of trying to cleanse my camera roll, sometimes I go to delete an old screenshot but don’t have the heart to go through with it because I think, “Oh, this is cool. I should keep it so I can look at it again later” even though I know I’ll never go back to it.
Additionally, when I see something cool on social media, I take a screenshot without even thinking because I worry that I’ll never be able to find it again in the sea of content that gets published every day. I screenshot to have a sense of control and to keep the things I like in a safe, accessible space. Ironically, this need for control causes my number of photos to spiral out of control.
So, what can I do to mitigate the above issues?
As previously mentioned, I could work on reducing my screen time, thus limiting the opportunities I have to take screenshots.
I could also keep my camera roll in check by using the “save” or “favourite” function that many social media apps have. This way, I can store the content I want to return to without using up my storage. This change can offer me that sense of control I desire over being able to save the posts I want to revisit and not lose them in the content sea.
I could also use the trendy and helpful Marie Kondo method. When I go to take a screenshot, or when I’m trying to downsize my already extensive collection, I can pause and ask myself, “Does this image spark joy? Is this truly useful? When was the last time I thought about this or looked at it? Did I even remember taking a screenshot of this before I found it again?”
The only issue with this last solution is that many of the hundreds of screenshots I have tucked away bring me joy or at least interest me in some way. That makes it tricky to get rid of old screenshots, even if I barely ever look at them.
But if the screenshots I’ve saved over the years interest me or bring me joy, maybe I don’t have to get rid of as many as I intended. Perhaps it’s okay that my camera roll is a little cluttered.
During the minimal research I did for this entry, I stumbled upon a response to a Quora thread that I found illuminating.
In response to someone’s question about why they’re obsessed with taking screenshots, saving YouTube videos in playlists, and writing their thoughts down, one user refers to this behaviour as “millennial curation.” (I’m actually a Gen Z kid, but okay, let’s roll with it.)
“I can be a curator of my own personal museum of content,” this user wrote. “When you screenshot interesting things, save great videos, and note down your thoughts, you’re curating what you find meaningful in a world where meaning is entirely subjective.”
I like that.
Maybe I can reframe my thoughts instead of thinking of my screenshot-taking as a problem that I need to solve. Maybe my millennial Gen Z curation habit reflects who I am, who I want to become, where my interests lie, and what I wish to remember moving forward. Maybe it’s a good thing I take so many screenshots because one day, I can look back at them and see how I’ve grown over time.
Maybe I don’t have too many screenshots after all.
A great read, Rebecca - great name too, btw!
I love the idea of regarding oneself as the ‘curator’ of content!
I enjoyed this, Rebecca! Gen X here, but I find myself with the same digital curation tendencies (and I love this description of it!). Before digital cameras, I saved all kinds of things in journals, photo boxes, and scrapbooks. When I became a parent, digital cameras were the new thing, so I switched to digital content. I began a filing system using Dropbox that has allowed me to keep all the photos dear to me without hogging precious storage space on my phone. There are some drawbacks to this system, but overall it works (because I feel you can get a lot of space for not much $ from Dropbox).
Your post also reminds me of a book I recently read called Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. Interesting read that chance some of my “digital habits.” I wrote a post about the process called Digital Detox.
Anyway--glad to read your inaugural post. Looking forward to more!