My personal sense of the word is that “virtue signaling” is when people intentionally seek recognition from a group by visibly supporting something that group a

My personal sense of the word is that “virtue signaling” is when people intentionally seek recognition from a group by visibly supporting something that group already endorses or considers normal. Going a step further, the support is often exaggerated, not totally sincere, or not congruent with that person’s previous behavior. There is also a sense that whatever thing someone is “virtue signaling” about is acceptable enough that there is no real downside for taking the stance. It would be like an American proudly declaring how much he loves the United States on Independence Day. He would go out of his way to emphasize just how much of a patriot he is, hoping to be rewarded for doing so.