New Delhi, Aug. 1 -- Osheen Megha Akhlaq has 3,100 screenshots on her phone. They cover everything. From performance ads she's tracking as a brand executive at a skincare company, to reference images for campaign ideas, and WhatsApp chats with content creators she forwards to her boss to signal follow-ups on marketing initiatives. "Half my job is carried through these screenshots," says the 24-year-old from Mumbai.

She recalls how not too long ago, her gallery was mostly filled with screengrabs of unsolicited texts from men-school and college-era receipts that made gossip feel more real, less made-up. Now, that folder has more work than whispers.

Over the last five years, screenshots-an image of data displayed on a mobile or desktop scr...