True factoid: one remarkably useless chindogu was a device that lets you hold a camera at arm's length so you can take a photo of yourself -- now known as the selfie stick.
Those Japanese that do use them would share with theur group but would likely not post publically. That means sharing via private messaging a not posting on a more public news feed
A selfie stick with a film camera would have truly been useless. You'd probably only get a photo of some random thing behind you, and only learn of your mistake a week later. It took the invention of digital cameras with front-facing screens to make them practical.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images2500x2500/fujifilm...
It takes more work, but that's the nature of film photography rather than the selfie stick.
The way selfie sticks work, you holding it and the camera pointing back at you, they tend to put you nicely into the frame, even though you don't get to look at what you're taking a picture of. It's much much more accurate than holding a camera out with your arm.
So I'd say they'd be exactly useful with film cameras, because you're going to be reasonably sure to be in the picture.
Instantly made me think of Buzz Aldrin's 1966 space selfie - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_selfie#/media/File:Buzz_...
On one hand, they are incredibly useful in some circumstances.
On the other, I resent their existence and find anyone (else) using them obnoxious.
Here's the story about it