Wearing a necktie and a cross necklace are also virtue signaling. One is about being 'ready' to do business, the other about their religious feelings. However, these signals are necessarily political and in a general since are expressing a person's personal feelings and fashion sense.
isn't expressing support for the marginalized still a good thing?
"virtue signal" for this is aggressively political, weaponized, and done to create an us vs. them situation. People being attacked with 'milkshakes,' people being video recorded in bathrooms, people being doxed for having a different political POV.
If you are young and only know life with social media, then. you'd have to remove yourself from it for six months to have an idea how poisonous virtue signaling can be. The Right used to do it politically in the 80's, now it's the Left doing most of it (or course not all of it).
When people prevent others from speaking, publish their home addresses, email, phone numbers... then you know it's an attack campaign. Actors staying silent on one side for fear of losing work, while the other side is brandishing their 'virtue' in order to gain employment.
Unfortunately the Covid-19 vaccinations have become political, but however one looks at it, it's a medical procedure, generally safe, an unless one has an actual doctor recommending to not take it or wait for something else, then one should take it. Also unfortunately, people are demanding proof of being vaccinated. The government, business, and citizens are demanding to know personal medical information... that until now has generally been considered private information.
If this continues, the virtue signaling of being vaccinated, then it'll progress to other intrusions on one's privacy in the name of meaningful change, such as the government wanting every bank account with $600 to be reported on. This is a power grab by the government, intended to squeeze the poor who are working 'gig' jobs and my be paid under the table. Sure they should pay taxes they owe, but, if you've got nothing to hide, then why should you care?
If you are down with the cause, then why do you need to advertise it on social media?
Do you see the pattern?