Virtue Signalling - Tumblr Posts

Virtue signalling becomes "bad" when it becomes weaponised or used in place of actual activism. There's absolutely nothing wrong with signalling your stances, virtues and morals to other people or expressing support for something or someone.

Unfortunately, a lot of people use virtue signalling as a means of pressure, targeting, and other unpleasant behaviors.

For example; "if you don't use this Facebook profile frame you're clearly a horrible person who doesn't give a fuck about veterans and can't be bothered to do one tiny thing to show support!"

Or; "if you're too lazy to tell everyone all the time that you're not a pedophile I'm going to automatically assume you're a pedophile."

When people use virtue signalling to harass others, apply pressure to them to conform to expectations or to be awarded basic decency is when virtue signalling becomes something that is harmful rather than something that is beneficial.

Virtue signalling in terms of things like profile frames and window stickers is a fun, sweet way of showing support and raising awareness, but it isn't a moral obligation nor is it paramount activism. Especially when it becomes a consistent expectation that you absolutely must participate in every single public signalling trend or be condemned.

Am I the only person who doesn’t think ‘virtue signaling’ is inherently bad/useless? That post talking about FB frames is so bizarre to me because to me that’s like. Walking past a business with a rainbow flag flying. That was genuinely incredibly important to me as a terrified closeted teen! And someone having a Facebook frame for the same reasons is like - hey that’s one person who doesn’t want me to change or die! I don’t think that’s ’doing nothing’.

.