On Instagram, “ss” is usually understood as an abbreviation for “screenshot.” It’s a request made by one consumer to a different to seize the picture or video at present displayed on their display. As an example, a consumer would possibly ship a direct message (DM) with merely “ss” to somebody who has posted a disappearing picture or video on their Instagram story, intending to avoid wasting the content material earlier than it vanishes.
The apply of requesting a screenshot is important as a result of it circumvents the short-term nature of sure Instagram content material codecs. It permits customers to protect and share ephemeral content material outdoors of the platform or at a later time. Traditionally, this habits emerged alongside the rise of disappearing media, providing a solution to retain content material that was designed to be fleeting.