Even what you did say shouldn't have been apologized for. Get off your high horses if you thought something was rude. This is a forum, no one is going to cater to your every whim.
Only his future actions will determine if hes fishing for compliments or he is truly sorry. Anyone else who jumps on this one way or the other is pre-judging based on personal preferences.
If he still acts like a jerk, then yeah, he was fishing for compliments here, if he doesn't then yeah, he properly apologized in public.
I really think that this should have been done differently than making this thread. Making a big showy apology comes of as attracting too much attention to yourself and what a good fellow you are rather than expressing your regret. I feel the apology needed to be made within the original thread and in a PM to Tyr.
These days flagellants are viewed as either anachronistic or exhibitionists. I would choose to apologise where it does the most good and to do that you need to be closer to where the pain may lie. And that is in the personal spaces more than in the public ones.