All that building your brand and trying to convince people of your identity in place of actually having one is not exhibitionism but narcissism. There used to be a very good blog about this being the root of cultural and social rot we see around us.
I can assure you, kids have been doing extracurriculars that look good on college applications for longer than most of us have been alive.
Nailed it better than I ever could.
> All that building your brand and trying to convince people of your identity in place of actually having one
Well, that's because college admissions value seem to value identities like robotics / programming club president more than identities like having fun with friends and trying different things together (secondarily to the friendship), which seems to be a more mentally healthy pursuit and better for cultivating a healthy identity but not what admissions are looking for.