In future, I plan to save my timeshift snapshots (ext4) on a USB stick permanently inserted in a USB 3.0 slot (which is specified and recognized as an SD card). However, I have now heard from the dark corners of the Internet that it is not advisable to leave a USB stick permanently inserted (and thus supplied with power). Is there any truth in this? I can’t find anything else on the net that could really help me.
You shouldn’t do this for the simple reason that USB thumb drives aren’t made for lots of writing. The failure rate on those, regardless of brand, is horrific.
Unless, of course, it really is a microSD card. A quality one of those should be able to handle a lot more writes.
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I have this:
That is an interesting device. Seems like a hybrid between an SSD and a flash drive. Write speeds are much faster than a normal flash drive.
I have no idea what the reliability of one of those is or what the impact of leaving it on all the time would be. I would be worried about heat causing longevity issues though is there is fast-ish flash memory in such a small enclosure left on all the time. 
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Provided the device isn’t actively being written/read for the entire duration it will likely be fine - while it is a little unusual to try and use devices specifically designed to be temporary, portable devices as fixed storage (and so will likely have been designed, specced and tested with absolutely zero consideration for the scenario @Darius is suggesting), it’s not completely unheard of.
Unraid, for example, is a NAS OS that specifically mandates it be booted from a USB thumbdrive. They even tie your license to the hardware ID of the stick as a form of DRM.
The usual read/write limitations on flash media still need to be considered though, as you’ve said.
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Strangely enough, the stick has not warmed up in any significant way so far. Not even under stress test conditions.
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