Everyone Should Use A Selfie Stick

Joanna SternMe, Joanna, and Pocket.

Look how adorable that photo is.

That's me, my friend Joanna Stern (a columnist for The Wall Street Journal), and Pocket (a dog). The photo you see there would've been impossible if Joanna hadn't snapped it using her selfie stick.

I've been walking around the Consumer Electronics Show for the last three days, and I've seen more selfie sticks here than I have ever seen in one place.

Journalists use them to peek their smartphones and GoPros over throngs of people to get a better shot. Conference attendees document themselves walking the show floor. Some snag selfies with celebrities.

Since selfie sticks are so prolific at CES this year, a lot of the tech press started dumping on them. It didn't help that spin-off gadgets like belfie (butt selfie) sticks cropped up too.

But I think selfie sticks are great, a demonstration of just how central smartphones have become in our lives. It used to be that you'd have to carry around several gadgets at once: a camera, a phone, a pager, a GPS, an iPod, and so on. Now all of that is crammed into a smartphone.

At CES, I've done most of my work with the exception of writing stories on my phone. I kind of wish I had a selfie stick. It'd make my job a lot easier. 

And even if you don't use your phone for work, selfie sticks help you get much better shots than you can just extending your arm.

Bottom line: Stop hating and start using selfie sticks.