The (Almost) Unavoidable Moral Trap of Virtue Signalling

Nobody wants to come across as a big show-off!

I wrote a post about kindness a few days ago. Living in kindness is very important to me, so I felt inspired to share my sentiments. It was meant to be about me and not advice on how anyone should live their life. I don’t think it was misunderstood, and all the comments I got were absolutely lovely!

However, since publishing it, I have been feeling a bit weird about it. Honestly, the odd feelings aren’t just about this specific post, but permeate most of what I write, putting into question how my articles come across to my readers. After all, I talk a lot about being kind, letting go of perfection, veganism, animal rights, and sustainability… I write about these topics because they’re truly important to me.

Although I would love to know I have inspired someone in any sense, my primary aim is to inform and share my personal experiences on these subjects. That’s how I write all of my posts. Either from a personal point of view, where I share my personal life and take on things, or I take a more informational approach with links to articles and studies to back up what I say but still sprinkled with my own experience and beliefs.

Here is the problem that’s assailing me: I don’t want to come across as virtue signalling. The one thing I don’t want to do is show off. I’m not better than anyone, and neither do I have all the answers… all I want to do is to share my thoughts and experiences, with some information sprinkled about when appropriate.

Have I been unintentionally virtue signalling all this time?

Virtue Signalling 101

If you’re unfamiliar with the expression, virtue signalling is a derogatory term — it’s singing your own virtues, also known as a humblebrag. And there’s more to it — with the term comes the implication that no action is being taken and the virtue is either insincere or highly exaggerated.

Think about all those times when you see everyone in your social circles, especially online, talking about the hot topic of the moment — often a political issue or a social justice cause. People might change their profiles, record a video, share a hashtag, or make a post. These are all things that show their support for the cause but don’t necessarily translate into any change in personal behaviour or actions that will benefit the cause. It gets topics trending and shows people’s higher moral standards, but it doesn’t change anything in the real world beyond, perhaps, the local news talking about the trending hashtag.

Virtue signalling is rooted in selfishness — a desire for others to recognise you as the great person you think you are or wish you could be. If you spend some time on the Google rabbit hole of trying to figure out what others have to say about the expression, you’ll find people saying that virtue signalling is the weapon of keyboard warriors, “a moral disease contracted mostly by millennials, progressive politicians, and celebrities”, “it’s about bettering your own station by persuading the people in your social group of your moral purity”.

The journalist James Bartholomew is often credited with popularising the term when he wrote about “the increasingly common phenomenon of what might be called ‘virtue signalling’ — indicating that you are kind, decent and virtuous.” After reading his article, you might start to wonder if it’s possible to support any cause at all without falling for this modern trap. You don’t need to talk about a cause you support, but how can you raise awareness if you can’t discuss it?

Halfway through Bartholomew’s famous piece, an answer seems to emerge. “No one actually has to do anything. Virtue comes from mere words or even from silently held beliefs.” At first, it gives the impression that action is the solution. If you’re acting on your words and beliefs, you wouldn’t be virtue signalling. It would make perfect sense, but his article suggests it’s always a problem to talk about what you’re doing — you can’t be virtuous and talk about your deeds. You have to silently “visit the sick, give money to charity or [be] kind to someone lonely”.

In another well-known article published in The Conversation, Karen Stollznow points out that the term “virtue signalling” is often used by conservatives and right-wingers to dismiss an argument by calling out the character of the presenter. Instantly, that brought Bartholomew’s piece to mind — I couldn’t help but feel his whole argument was directed at progressists and liberals. According to Stollznow, shouting “virtue signalling” is an effective way of gaining the moral high ground and dismissing important causes without discussing the causes themselves. She says, “Does it matter if an individual or company signals virtue if it’s in the name of a good cause? Indeed, it can be argued that signalling a commitment to specific values helps moral discourse.”

To signal or not to signal?

Ultimately, is it even possible to talk about a cause without some virtue signalling? Perhaps if you can do it in a completely impersonal way, totally removing yourself from it and focusing exclusively on the information, you would be free of such accusations. However, I’m not sure if such impersonal conversation or article can be interesting and compelling.

Anyone talking about causes like climate change, veganism, animal rights, social justice, and national healthcare programs will open themselves to be accused of virtue signalling. But that doesn’t mean those aren’t worthy causes or you shouldn’t show your support by talking about them. It also doesn’t mean that if you talk about something, your actions don’t count.

Going back to the post that spurred this conversation, I couldn’t stop thinking about how the readers perceived it after I hit the publish button. The comments I got on that article were all great, and they made me feel amazing — of course they did! They were all about me and how great I am. I’m not immune to praise… Unintended by those who sent their kind words my way, I also felt that I missed the point with that story. I don’t want people to see how great I am because I’m just as flawed as the next person. There are great things about me but many not-so-great things, too. Although a part of me enjoyed the compliments, the more practical side of me saw the problem behind it all: I don’t know how to talk about these subjects without some sort of virtue signalling. After all, I am writing about causes that I care deeply about, very important issues. I share information, but I also share my own experience with these subjects.

It reminded me of another article I wrote a while ago about my doubts and angsts as a writer. Some sweet people told me they love to read what I write. On the one hand, it felt nice to hear that people enjoy my work, but on the other, I felt like I was fishing for compliments. Not my intention in writing that article, but it felt that way afterwards.

Again, I feel something akin to that, but with an extra layer of ostentatiousness. Am I that guy who goes to the gym shirtless and displays his muscles in front of the mirror at every exercise break?

My question is: how do you circumvent that? How do you avoid virtue signalling when discussing subjects that can be viewed as morally superior, even if that’s not your intention?

It’s so hard to find the balance!

You know your intentions, and that’s enough

Although my primary focus is to inform people, I don’t want to write boring articles; I want you to enjoy reading my posts. So, showing my personal takes, beliefs, and experiences is essential for the making of a compelling story. I also worry about having a clear message — or as clear as possible. But I know some people will often see something that I didn’t intend.

That’s probably the root of all this questioning. Do people see something that I didn’t mean? If I saw it, that means some people will see it too. After talking to friends and reading about virtue signalling, I learned I can’t completely avoid it.

So, I have to learn to deal with it. I’ll never be able to please all my readers or get everyone’s agreement to everything I write. There will be people who will doubt my intentions and question my morals. I’m learning to accept that and keep on doing my best to share my message with people. As long as I can talk about these sensitive subjects without coming across as a complete douchebag, I’ll count it as a win.