[ghostpepper]

Like all politically-charged terms, the original meaning has been long lost as the context in which it was coined is forgotten.

I think the term ‘virtue signalling’ was originally intended to point out a perceived hypocrisy - that it’s much easier to gain public support for an idea/cause/campaign if that campaign is perceived to be helping some disenfranchised group - even if the campaign also benefits the organizer, and even if the campaign is not necessarily wanted by some or even all of the allegedly-aggrieved group.