Just saw this today, and the "leaders" are far out of my reach...
I set a goal several years back of getting into the top 100, then top 50, and so on, and was commenting and posting loads. I guess they didn't like that too much and it disappeared onto the Lists page ;-) I don't post as much now but that's probably a good thing for me.
Some of us tend toward the product side, some the process side, and some the people side. The people side is the most visible and most likely to arouse suspicion among geeks, but it's not inherently worthless.
And, of course, self-branding and promotion is a thing that people do.
1. Like this :-) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8362307
Why? Oh, why? I look at my own HN posting as a personal weakness that does nothing to advance my career, general happiness, or sense of personal development. The really successful people I've known in my life don't get caught up in tussling in Internet forums. They stay focused like a laser on goals that are much more recognizable as "success".
And that reminds me to close my browser and think about what I really want to accomplish today!
Because, like Everest, it was there :-)
My time on HN has not been as negative as I infer yours has been though. It benefits me and I enjoy it. That back-handed airy-fairy malarky about what "really successful" people do sounds like a load of preachy cobblers to me though.