“I invented virtue signalling,” says James Bartholomew of The Spectator.
It may even be true. The online version of Collins Dictionary incorporated the expression earlier this year, defining virtue signalling as “activities intended to
indicate a person’s virtuousness”.
In June, Facebook introduced a “Celebrate Pride” function that allowed users all over the world to show support for gay marriage by imposing a transparent LGBT rainbow over their profile picture.
Two weeks ago, another group of ideological lock-steppers adopted the
colours of the French flag in sympathy with the victims of the Parisian massacres.
That’s virtue signalling: “Look at me! I’m
a good person!”