As another commenter said, social validation is something sought after by people, and may be common enough to be considered "normal".

But my idea is that if you only take part in an activity because, for whatever reason, you want to be "a person who does X" and associate your identity with it ("I'm a runner"), you are unlikely to partake in that activity in a "leisurely fashion", because you have to conform to what "a person who does X" is expected to do by their audience. The comment to which I was initially replying was giving the example of running, so I was looking for an explanation of why many people won't just "cruise around the block" but instead try for a marathon, complete with selfies at the finish line.

While I definitely don't hold social media in high regard, my post was not intended to be a dig at it. But I understand that my position is likely to color my discourse to things related to it.