AIBU to fed up with Virtue Signalling

[Dipi79]

Just that, really.
It's great that people are doing things for others/being considerate, but doesn't posting on Social Media seem a bit boasty?

Yes! My FB is full of the 'stay at home, save lives' brigade who then post photos of a nice family outing to the supermarket with both parents and kids in tow. Also, add to that the fun police who can't read and just make up social distancing rules, incorrectly dictating what people can and cannot do.

Stay home save lives !unless you are delivering cake and soup

I really hate people preaching to me, I have blocked loads of people on facebook, left quite a few groups - the Covid Police bring out my inner teenager and it makes me just want to say fuck them and go out and break the rules...and before you fuckers start shouting I haven't or won't but I don't need my peers preaching to me - bloody left religion behind in my teens for that very reason.

I'm not sure any political party cared enough about the NHS or were willing enough to sort out the mess it's been in for many years I don't recall it being any better managed in the 13_years I worked for it under the Labour government who.by the way started the cuts in the first place ,but that aside maybe this crisis will.force all political parties to try and sort out the mess the NHS is in?

One parent in our area is forever posing on our local page (to make sure of maximum coverage I'm sure).

"Here's Molly drawing pictures for the retirement home residents".

"Here's Molly helping me get shopping for our neighbours"

"Here's Molly delivering the leaflets for the Helping Hands group"

Etc etc

FB and other social media sites are swamps of self-congratulatory narcissism. As it seems that everything must have entertainment value nowadays, it's no surprise that their main entertainment is deflecting attention to themselves.

Thankful for this thread, I thought I was the only one. I did not clap!
Key worker in children services still going out to work each day, I normally volunteer all year round for a charity, it has stopped it’s service during Coronavirus. Donate monthly to a local charity helping struggling families, donated a larger sum this month to help more families. I shop for food and collect medicines for vulnerable family members at the weekend.
None of which I put on Facebook because I am not an attention seeking virtue signaller.
Also I can’t bake, does that make me a bad person?

Playing devils advocado here- do you believe that kindness begets kindness and perhaps posting your good deeds inspires others to be kind to others too? It's like 'keeping up with the Joneses'. It's irritating, yes, but isn't it good that people are looking out for others?

Advocate

I prefer devil's avocado

It inspires me to be grumpy and miserable as fuck 😂😂

We say devil's avocado, doesn't everyone?

@stealthpolarbear

And x2boys didn't you know everyone over the age of about sixty fought in the world wars, it's mentioned on here regularly how our parents fought in the wars for us. I have pointed out the lack of logic before.
Give it a decade or so and I'll suddenly discover I fought in the war.

I remember reading something a while ago that said (I'm paraphrasing) that the babyboomers are the generation that didn't fight in the war but act like they do... Very true of some of my older relatives!

The main stuff I have on my FB are posts from fellow school mums with photos of the pages of maths sheets she's made for her kid, along with pictures of baking/pe lessons/walks/videos they've made etc.. nothing wrong with those things per se, but sooo many! And there's a definite "look at me, I'm supermum!" vibe about it.

The worst thing I've seen shared (not virtue signalling mind you) is a meme that said something along the lines of "users of mosques are not adhering to social distancing so watch out using their shops because you're likely to catch something". I actually went to the original post to read the comments, and I couldn't believe the vitriol people were spewing. Awful.

But sorry, I digress, this is about virtue signalling.

Better go, I'm preparing a dance to perform for the binmen, which I will then upload to FB to encourage others to spread the joy

Lol the binmen will love that. Mine sent me a long letter praising my handle disinfecting techniques, he was so grateful and happy. I'd have given him a big hug but, yknow.

I agree, it's cringe. Especially the clapping.

I gave my binman a tenner and I feel really shit about it now. And really ashamed for telling you.

Someone on my friends list posted about how she’d taken the opportunity since being made redundant to make a difference and join the front line key workers by accepting a job in a supermarket. She started a new job after this had been declared a pandemic and was made redundant a week later so not eligible for furlough, she didn’t accept the job to make a difference, she took the job because she can’t afford the mortgage without a wage coming in.

@StealthPolarBear I was typing advocate and remembered how my sister says devil's avocado so it ended up as a mish mash of the two 😬 My brain is turning to mush

I think there's a fair bit of scamming going on. There are too many people asking for bits of food to give to "the NHS" or give money and I'll donate one of my Avon hand moisturisers or, the most stupid, give me money and I'll make a cake then you nominate someone worthy for me to donate it too. Donate me Easter eggs and I'll give them to the NHS. And on and on.

I saw something about a mosque too they were not even shy about the racisim we don't have an official mosque here but the islamic centre as we as churches have been closed for over a week

A couple of weeks ago I was irrationally annoyed by that nurse who filmed herself crying in her car after being unable to buy groceries at the end of her shift. I was sympathetic at first until a friend (who is also a nurse) commented that the woman appeared to be wearing an inordinate amount of make up considering she'd supposedly just finished a 48 hr shift

Oh my good god now my village want us to bloody dance on our doorsteps DANCE ffs

I won't be clapping because it has zero practical use or purpose. It's just an essentially empty gesture that allows people to delude themselves that they're making an effort and doing something good. It's a lazy action & lazy thinking.

Virtue signalling has always been a thing though. When Caroline Flack died facebook was full of #beKind etc, and people talking about how they’d been sobbing about her. In fact sobbing seems to be quite a popular pursuit on FB, as well as MN. .

TBH I wasn’t sure about that nurse either. I have no idea how much makeup she was wearing, but the need to put up a video which was then played over and over and over was beyond me, and a couple of days later someone else did one who’se partner had CV, and so a trend begins.

I am immensely grateful to the NHS and many of them have been in my thoughts recently as I am alive because of them. But yesterday when I spoke to my consultant as part of my cardiology phone consultation, I asked how he and all his colleagues were, and he seemed genuinely surprised that someone would ask. So people seem happy to do the FB thing and everything from a distance, but there’s no actual caring going on. It’s not dissimilar to those copy and paste statuses along the lines of “if you know someone who is struggling with their mental health/has cancer/ then copy and paste this, I know who my true friends are who will. And actually the most recent one is all about needing fourteen friends to copy and paste some status which says that they’re there for the original sharer. Or something.

It inspires me to be grumpy and miserable as fuck

Me too 🤣🤣😇