I once drank in a pub run by a landlord who loved to regale his regulars, and anyone else who would listen, with stories of his life in the military. Clearly, we were in the presence of a war hero, until one day an old comrade arrived in his pub and let it be known that he had actually served in the catering corps. If nothing else, it explained why the food was so average. In years to come, will people be sharing their experiences of the great Covid-19 epidemic of 2020 with their children?
Certainly some people, like our NHS and care staff and those who have volunteered to help others, will have wonderful stories to tell, but not everyone. Take those who love to talk the talk.
“So, what did you do in the Covid-19 epidemic of 2020, grandad?”
“How do you mean, lad?
“Well, did you serve in the NHS and save people’s lives?”
“No, lad.”
“How about volunteering, then? Did you help out others?”
“Afraid not.”
“So what did you do?”
“Well, supposed I virtue signalled.”
“What does that mean, grandad?”
“I spent months on Facebook, showing what a fine and moral person I was by saying things they agreed with.”
“Oh. What’s Facebook, grandad?”
There is always virtue signalling on social networks. ‘Share if you agree the Yorkshire Ripper wasn’t a good person”, that sort of thing. ‘Paedophiles are bad people and should have their testicles removed. Without anaesthetic. I know 99% won’t share this but I know who will.’ And so it is with Covid-19.
A minority of people have chosen to ignore the government’s instructions regarding social distancing and instead crowded parks and beaches in some places. So, people, with presumably good intentions, share this stuff on social networks and invite their friends to get angry. And sure enough they get angry. The hang ’em and flog ’em appear out of the woodworm to join in the virtue signalling. But to whom are they signalling?
I know that Facebook is not the real world. A Facebook ‘friend’ is not necessarily a real friend. They might be a friend of a friend or someone you met on holiday in Spain 20 years ago. I am not sure I would want to be friends in the real world, away from cyberspace, with anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to gather in public in groups and so increase the risk of people dying. The same probably applies on social networks.
If you have ‘friends’ who need telling that hoarding bog paper and baked beans is not a good idea, or need reminding that hanging around in groups in local parks might kill people, perhaps you might be wondering whether you actually need friends like that.
