Flagging Your Virtues: Is It Worth It?
I want to talk about internet posting and discourse; most prominently, virtue flagging, which is the act of making a post to signal to others your thoughts on often controversial subjects. We've all done it, I've done it; it's how we communicate to people whom we agree with that we're not only on their side, but that we can be trusted. Saying something like: "trans lives matter!" (which they obviously do.) The problem I have with virtue signaling, is that when it comes to some topics, I'm a bit of a fence sitter, or I have qualifications to my thoughts. This can get not only the people whose side your lean towards angry, but everyone involved angry. It's nerve wracking to put your thoughts out there, especially if you add a qualification. For me, these nerves would be much calmer if people didn't attempt to straw-man your argument, or gang up on you; perhaps going as far as to say you're "problematic", which fortunately hasn't ...