If anyone wants a quick refresher, Dictionary.com states the meaning of Virtue Signalling as…
“The sharing of one’s point of view on a social or political issue, often on social media, in order to garner praise or acknowledgment of one’s righteousness from others who share that point of view, or to passively rebuke those who do not:”
Earlier this morning I jumped on LinkedIn, coffee in hand after waking up slightly before the time I needed to.
A connection had liked a post of someone that I wasn’t connected to, and I decided to take a further look.
It was a picture of the author lying unconscious in intensive care, having suffered from a non-covid related lung condition. However, he had also been liberal with hashtags that specifically relate to the pandemic.
Now I have zero issues with anyone sharing that type of photo anywhere online, this is the beauty of a free country.
What I took exception to, was what he wrote.
See attached two photos for the exact post
I read this article three times as I wanted to make sure that I fully understood before deciding to contribute my own comment.
His privacy is protected because I don’t want this to be a personal attack on anyone.
It’s a general observation of mine, combined with ideas you can use to help improve this type of content in the future.
Sharing misleading content in this manner is comparable to the book that OJ Simpson wrote (but the publisher cancelled due to public outrage), stating how he would have killed Nicole Simpson and Ronald Brown IF he did it!
I’m not joking, it was a real book.
Now, here is where I added my 0.2c
I wrote the following statement.
“Virtue Signalling at its finest, congratulations sir”.
Probably could’ve worded it slightly better, but I went with my gut on this one.
Now whether that was the right thing or wrong to say, I’ll leave it for you to decide, however, I’ll explain my reasons for doing so.
Unless you’ve been able to hide under many large rocks for the last eighteen months, you’ll have found it challenging to avoid any mainstream media.
It’s been relentless and brutal all at the same time.
In fact, not taking any time away from it is a recipe for severe mental decline.
Having managed to dial my consumption of mainstream media right back, I’m very pleased to report that my own levels of anger, frustration and general anxiety have subsided dramatically.
But here is my frustration with what was shared.
It was unnecessary fearmongering (in my humble opinion), grossly misleading and a veiled attempt to persuade people to act from incorrect information.
Without directly comparing my guy on LinkedIn, someone else we all know used some nefarious tactics also.
Hitler.
This Nazi propaganda poster was created in 1941 for public display in German-occupied Poland. The Polish-language words translate roughly to “Jews are lice; they cause typhus.” Designed to link Jews and typhus closely together in the minds of non-Jewish Poles, the poster shows one of the feared typhus-ridden lice drawn on top of the face of a Jewish man that has been made to look like a skull. Several other examples of antisemitic Nazi propaganda depict Jews covered in lice, but this image seems designed to suggest that Jews and lice are fundamentally similar creatures equally responsible for spreading the disease.
Hmmm, this sound familiar, doesn’t it?
Now you might be thinking “Now Laban, you can’t compare these two things together!”
Well, I just did.
We’re entering a very dangerous time in history, whether you can see it or not. The only way to come out the other side intact is to create better awareness so we can all improve.
I still use social media to share my own content, support people I choose to help, promote my podcast series and create business opportunities.
I cringe at the thought of writing controversial, yet eye-catching titles to try and grab people’s attention. I try to attract the right audience via the “Be so good they can’t ignore you” mantra – Steve Martin coined that phrase btw.
All of which is done with sincerity and honesty. I’m more than happy to challenge anyone who disagrees with this statement.
So in closing, my point is this.
Whenever you think about sharing, posting, or contributing in any way, ask yourself the following questions.
- Am I doing this for me or for someone else?
- Does this align with my core values and beliefs?
- Does this feel right to me?
If you can answer all three of these questions honestly, then knock yourself out.
Oh and just remember one thing.
Lies create a unique vibrational frequency whenever they are told, and people are more intuitive than we give them credit for.