By Larissa Claar
Contributing Writer
University of New Hampshire students are split on selfie-sticks.
“Surprisingly efficient, strikingly basic.”
That is how UNH junior Gabe Lee described the latest trend and handy gadget that has been flying off the shelves.
The Selfie Stick is an extendable rod that holds most cellphones or  go-pros at the end of it. Its sole purpose being an apparatus that allows people to take pictures of themselves in addition to all that is behind them, with the simple click of a button.
It can be used while traveling, at parties and for capturing any memorable moment. This device has taken photography, or more specifically selfies, to a whole new level.
The sales for selfie sticks have skyrocketed within the past year according to the New York Post. Numerous people around the world, especially university students, have embraced this concept of quick, easy and fun selfie-taking.
“I think it has become popular because it’s an easy way to snap a picture and not have to stop a random person passing by to take a photo of you,” Ashley Milliken, a junior at UNH said. “You can just take one yourself and take as many as you want.”
Milliken owns a selfie stick and loves to bring it on vacations and to concerts, or even use it outside on a nice day with her friends.
UNH freshman Drew Verrier, also a selfie-stick owner, is constantly finding creative angles and ways to use it.
“It allows people to take a picture of a much larger group of people,” Verrier said. “And allows them to get more in a picture than before.”
The idea of standing in a public place while holding a long pole, smiling and saying cheese seems ridiculous to some.
“Kind of awkward,” senior Ali Bartolotta said of selfie-sticking. “Fun, but awkward.”
The trend is spreading so rapidly that it is steadily becoming more and more common to see people using them. Even celebrities have been seen using them.
Social media has undoubtedly helped make this selfie-stick epidemic bloom. The photos and videos taken while using the stick have a distinct look, and are becoming easily recognizable. Even those who do not own one know what they are, and see the selfie stick pictures that are taken and widely posted. The hashtag #selfiestick helped too.
“I see pictures on Instagram all the time,” said UNH freshman Shania Mulley, referring to the numerous selfie-stick shots she views on the daily.
Now for the big questions: Are selfie-sticks going to stick around? Or is this too a trend that will pass by as quickly as purple ketchup in the early 2000s? UNH students have divided opinion on the matter.
“I think this is just the beginning of the selfie-stick era,” Milliken said.
Others tend to disagree.
“I think it’s a matchstick fad,” Verrier said. “It burns bright for a while and then dies out.”
Lee also refers to selfie-sticks as a trend that will soon whither away.
“I think it’s a one-hit wonder that will eventually fade out,” Lee said. “Just like the rap song that was super hot at your middle school dance.”
For now, the selfie-stick remains strong. With new colors, styles and brands available constantly, the product is thriving.
If one day the trend becomes a thing of the past, at least there will be plenty of photos to remember it.