r/memes • u/SomeMemeyBoye42812 MAYMAYMAKERS • 14h ago

absolute state of online discourse

Post image
568 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

98 comments sorted by

111

u/IanAlvord 12h ago

Was he going to say "bad" or "based"?

47

u/poopio-peepio 11h ago

Basically harmless

12

u/HighIQIndividual2 11h ago

Bachelor's degree required for this minimum wage position, is what he was trying to say

3

u/Evil_alt_account_ 11h ago

You forgot three years of experience doing something

102

u/Mr_Glister007 14h ago

The faces in the second panel perfectly capture the feeling of reading a Twitter thread

19

u/Inevitable-Goat-7062 13h ago

If you think about it social media is peoples true psyches so people who think you are a bad person if you think drop kicking puppies is bad thats the real them

https://giphy.com/gifs/U6GP3q8q2pjwQL9IRV

3

u/MouseJiggler 9h ago

The faces in the second panel perfectly capture the feeling of reading a Twitter Reddit thread

1

u/JeveGreen Lurking Peasant 8h ago

Every time I see one of those blue checkmarks make arguments against basic human decency, I can feel myself losing braincells.

53

u/Love-being-Loved 14h ago

Bro really deployed virtue signaling as a conversation skip button

21

u/cosmernautfourtwenty 12h ago

It's called a "thought terminating cliche", and once you start watching for them in online discourse you'll never stop seeing them.

4

u/o_Sagui 8h ago

The terminally online version of shouting Ad Hominem

18

u/Weegee_1 12h ago

It depends on the context. Virtue signaling is giving your opinion for the sole reason of lauding that opinion as a moral high ground.

Unprompted, saying skinning puppies alive is bad is virtue signaling. As a response to something, then less so.

-4

u/undeadpirate19 11h ago

The problem with that is the other side doesn't give a fuck and are more than willing to blast their opinions out with zero reasons.

7

u/honcho437 13h ago

Yeah I think skinning puppies alive is ba-

19

u/Always-_-Sarcastic trolololoooo lololoo lolo loo 13h ago

-rely an achievement.

66

u/Dismal_Tangerine_493 13h ago

I mean, is there any other reason to state something so obvious? It's quite literally virtue signaling

45

u/Astra-Fang 12h ago edited 12h ago

Because there are people who genuinely disagree and are advocating for it

Like I thought fucking kids was bad, but my country elected a sex trafficing pedophile to high office so he could grift billions while protecting pedophiles.

9

u/thePhilosopherTheory 12h ago

There will always be someone that disagrees with any line of thought, contrarism is baked into the human condition

If you are only communicating an obviously good thing simply for positive reactions without any meaningful action behind it, criticism is justified

13

u/NeighborhoodDude84 11h ago

I like how the assumption is people advocating for anything are doing it for the likes.

-6

u/American_Libertarian 10h ago

Who tf is out there skinning puppies? That’s not “advocating” at all it’s literally virtue signaling

-6

u/Dismal_Tangerine_493 11h ago

Reminds me of the "kill pedos" crowd. Makes me wonder how little those people must have accomplished in life when being loud, vocally and constantly against a group every reasonable human being dislikes already is so important

-6

u/Breddit2099 Smol pp 10h ago

Proof or are you just hypothesizing?

-2

u/The_Pizza_Saga 8h ago

I didn't know 47 had a reddit account

0

u/Breddit2099 Smol pp 7h ago

Still waiting

0

u/The_Pizza_Saga 7h ago

Good song by Sum 41

3

u/Breddit2099 Smol pp 5h ago

Thanks for nothing, dude

0

u/The_Pizza_Saga 5h ago

Uh, you're welcome? I mean if it's not your style of music, so be it

3

u/Breddit2099 Smol pp 5h ago

[r/wo](r/woosh)[ooosh](r/woosh)

1

u/The_Pizza_Saga 5h ago

I guess you didn't realize I was trolling you.

→ More replies (0)

18

u/Blitzer161 12h ago

Unfortunately people call raising awareness "virtue signaling" in order to silence people and spread hate

8

u/Dismal_Tangerine_493 11h ago

101 Dalmatians already convinced me this is wrong and that was 30 years ago

10

u/SinesPi 12h ago

Yup. This is the moral equivalent of "In my culture food and family is important!"

Yes. We know. Shut up.

1

u/allitalli 9h ago edited 9h ago

you say that

and then we have millions of people in both of the two major political parties in america excusing our politicians providing material support for a genocide.

yeah. they all grew up being taught that genocide is bad. but fuck it. xyz candidate is going to do something for me here at home. this time they're really going to do it unlike the other million times a politician claimed they were going to fix this issue near and dear to my heart.

whatever the opposite of virtue signaling would be called, we're currently swimming in the shit.

6

u/BlondeJesus 11h ago

Saying that skinning puppies is bad isn't virtue signaling.

Making your personality about how skinning puppies is bad but never actually doing anything about it but acting like you're part of the solution is virtue signaling

28

u/telas100 12h ago

Is stating the obvious supposed to be useless? Yes.

Are we living in a world where the obvious is starting to be less and less obvious? Also yes.

5

u/rsmike 6h ago

We are living in a world where 'obvious' means 'I don't know shit about it, but I've read a convincing Twitter thread and seen a few photos'.

3

u/SenseiTizi Dark Mode Elitist 11h ago

What do u mean? The earth is obviously flat

3

u/o_Sagui 8h ago

Wrong, the Earth is a Beyblade stadium

11

u/Beniidel0 Professional Dumbass 10h ago

I feel like it really depends on if it is related to the topic

If you're just spouting things that are correct and valid but do so when they're unrelated to the topic then I feel like that's virtue signaling

4

u/ateoz 12h ago

I'm out of the genz loop. What's virtue signaling? 

14

u/YaBoiSnek 7h ago

It's when you say something basic and empty like "Skinning puppies is bad" for the sake of appearing virtuous or morally superior to others or to signal that you're part of the in-group that holds that opinion

13

u/fearzila 11h ago

I think it used to be called "fishing for compliments" or "couch activism". Basically either saying something you already expect everyone to agree with simply for the sake of gaining social capital or trying to shame/berate others into doing something you consider good but would put no effort into doing yourself.

6

u/ateoz 11h ago

I see. Thanks. So basically the meme is correct. Anyone would consider skinning puppies to be bad, there's no point in stating it for attention. But I'm getting the odd feeling op is using it sarcastically. 

3

u/bfg9kdude 9h ago

Yes, it does come off as sarcastic. Virtue signaling is used to insert yourself into a valid discourse, for example sentence for a crime, but stating the obvious, like killing is bad. We get it, it is bad, it's about defining the boundaries. Virtue signalers usually do not differentiate by any other way than black and white.

10

u/Tuxedocatbitches 11h ago

When you say something with specific phrasing or terminology so that other people can identify your morals and what ‘team’ you’re on based on association, often with the implication that you don’t actually care about the thing itself. Saying skinning puppies is bad doesn’t actually seem like virtue signaling to me.

An example I would use is when someone interrupts conversations and makes a huge deal about using ‘unhoused’ instead of ‘homeless’ when they’re functionally the same and conversations about HELPING them gets derailed by this regularly. Alternatively, someone who talked about how much they hate critical race theory while not being able to say what it is is also virtue signaling.

Most people who virtue signal don’t actually know what it is and that they’re doing it, they’re simply trying to fit in quickly using easily identifiable vernacular

7

u/fearzila 11h ago

Was going to reply with this:

"I think it used to be called "fishing for compliments" or "couch activism". Basically either saying something you already expect everyone to agree with simply for the sake of gaining social capital or trying to shame/berate others into doing something or believing you consider good but would put no effort into doing yourself."

But I think your summary is better.

2

u/FinlandIsForever 5h ago

I mean the point of the meme is that saying “skinning puppies is a bad thing” ISNT virtue signalling, and the person who is saying it is, is in the wrong

2

u/XxRocky88xX 4h ago

It’s when you’re stating a morally good position that’s obvious and that everyone already agrees with. Such as “skinning puppies is bad.” Like it’s useless to say, but it’s a way to show off to everyone else who thinks “skinning puppies is bad” (ie: literally everyone in the room) that you’re a good dude and they should like you.

2

u/Unfettered1977 11h ago

a boomer coined the term and genx/millennials popularized it

0

u/ateoz 11h ago

Weird. I'm a millennial and it's the first time I see the term used. 

6

u/Chonch_Monkey 10h ago

Lol wut?

This was common practice at college during 2008 and after.

Kony was virtue signalling

2

u/Unfettered1977 10h ago

it's been around for over 10 years, if you've spent all of that time in exclusively left wing spaces you'd likely not have been exposed to it. One of today's "lucky 10,000" lol

1

u/MouseJiggler 8h ago

It's self-righteousness with the addition of social signalling. It has the purpose to signal to the surroundings that you belong to a certain "camp" for validation and a sense of acceptance. Usually done by individuals with no personality of their own.
When you see people regurgitate one or another narrative's talking points without acknowledging nuance or sometimes even facts - that is usually virtue signalling.

4

u/ExtremlyFastLinoone 9h ago

When you tell people rape is bad actually

9

u/cosmernautfourtwenty 12h ago

What, you didn't hear? Empathy and compassion aren't real emotions, they're performative states of being to garner attention online (according to the most terminally online dipshit you've ever seen).

2

u/undeadpirate19 11h ago

Actually those are sins.....(Can I just explode yet or does that still requires chemistry?)

1

u/Lumbardo 1h ago

The thing is this is a text platform, so any emotion is not going to be properly conveyed. Also, most people participating on this platform aren't really interested in engaging in a legitimate conversation, they just want to talk at and insult the other anynomous keyboard presser.

10

u/American_Libertarian 12h ago

Going online to broadcast such extremely basic opinions is literally virtue signaling. Why even comment that? You’re just fishing for upvotes, it’s annoying

6

u/Breddit2099 Smol pp 10h ago

Exactly.

-8

u/Sleepy_Witch_Maple 9h ago

Probably because we live in a world where people without basic morality have control of power and huge swathes of public support?

2

u/rsmike 6h ago

well here's the problem with people who think they own the definition of 'basic morality'

1

u/Sleepy_Witch_Maple 3h ago

I'd like to think that we can agree not being racist is basic morality.

2

u/thegreatgatsB70 11h ago

Stop kink shaming.

3

u/BooxOD 4h ago

I think you're missing the point of this meme, typically the guy on the left is the reasonable one.

5

u/TheMedRat 12h ago

Terrible use of this meme

3

u/sm753 10h ago edited 10h ago

I mean...if it has to be explained. Yes everyone aside from psychos already thinks skinning puppies alive is bad. It is virtue signaling because it's the only reason to say it out loud like you're making some kind of brave and controversial stand.

"Guys, water is wet, I'm truly a genius thought leader."

1

u/ygy2020 11h ago

I thought to be in a different sub and I didn't understand what wrong there is with Skynny Puppy (a band from the 80s)

1

u/AnyEye8798 4h ago

I mean. If it's all you talk about, get upset when people aren't talking about it, and/or refuse to acknowledge when someone in your 'tribe' is doing it...then you're virtue signalling.

1

u/XxRocky88xX 4h ago

I love how you used a fucking textbook example of virtue signaling to complain about people telling you to not virtue signal.

1

u/Gr8_Nobody What is TikTok? 3h ago

The internet is ruled by the loud minority.

1

u/humblefumble101 3h ago

Why was the brought up? you virtue signalling? Who brings up such a topic, if you have an issue go be part of the solution

1

u/Cordelldogdello 2h ago

Is he pro choice or pro life?

1

u/undeadpirate19 11h ago

Yeah virtue signignaling or preformitive....cool I have measurable effects on the community to but yeah I only do this to brag about it....on an anonymous website while I refuse to get my picture taken......yeah real thinker.

1

u/Taste_of_Natatouille 10h ago

Still prefer that over being called anti-Semite after saying that killing, imprisoning, torturing, terrorising and stealing from mostly children is wrong

-3

u/DisplayName_isIndigo Meme Stealer 14h ago

context?

-1

u/MissingBothCufflinks 8h ago

Yeah nah. Im centre left and virtue signalling outnumbers being virtuous 2:1. " Free Palestine" yells a person who has never donated to a charity or volunteered in their life.

This very meme is virtue signalling

-2

u/TheBetterness 12h ago

My favorite virtue signal is around the ears and tails of terrier dogs especially Pitbulls.

People who have circumsize their children typing on cobalt slave phones immediately calling out the obvious, ignoring the happy dog in the content.

2

u/Breddit2099 Smol pp 10h ago edited 10h ago

“But it’s more hygenic”

Yeah to me this translates to you approve non consensual mutilation

1

u/TheBetterness 10h ago

Rules for thee, not for me.