This is nothing new really; its just that now anybody has the platform to summon attention any second of the day. Attention seeking is rooted in basic psychology- everyone is born with an ego which strives to seek attention and validation. The ego creates your identity, albeit a a false one and this false sense of self can be controlled and perpetuated better than ever by social media sites. People have a desire to feel special and be liked hence the constant desire to be like celebrities.
The ego likes observers and glamour and that is why people love making a story of their minor achievements - they seek recognition and status. The more attention you get the more it feeds your ego, its a high maintenance activity it needs a constant stream of attention and recognition. It makes you feel safe and not vulnerable, however, it is entirely false.
The danger is that you need more and more to keep the illusion alive, hence why people will often seek recognition from the most mundane things. Just to keep up this false sense of self their ego has created.
Although, when this stream of attention dries up, people might fill the gap with other things such as material goods etc... However, even that will not be enough to fulfil what you crave and that's when everything will coming crashing down.
Hence, why you get many celebrities who commit suicide or turn to taking drugs and alcohol, when their careers take a nose dive and they cant get attention any more and even their wealth cant satisfy them any more.