I don't agree with this. I agree that if you're worried about getting popularity, then you're worried about the wrong thing. Respect is important, but only from the right people.
If you want something for which popularity is the currency, by all means feel free to pursue it.
It only becomes a problem when people pursue any kind of currency just for the sake of having it, be it money, popularity or even respect.
I've recently starting to think that people have a fundamental need for hierarchy and what you might call "respect structures" and that if you deny them the job titles and corner offices then they just find other ways of projecting their status. In a way, I'd prefer the overt methods - so long as there's a route to getting there myself someday.
I just never understood the purpose. Humans are not inelastic beings who are a fixed cog in the wheel. I guess my official title is developer, but I spend just as much time in UX/design and IT roles, not to mention managing people doing the same.
And that is just at the place of my primary source of income. I work in other fields, completely unrelated to software, on the side. Out of context of my entire employment picture, developer really makes no sense as a title.