You’ve seen it. You’ve probably even done it. Maybe you were at a protest, or you donated five bucks to a GoFundMe, or you just read a headline that made your blood boil. Before you even processed the emotion, your thumb was already hovering over the "Share" button. You needed people to know that you care. You needed the world to see you’re on the right side of history. This is the society of virtue porn, a digital ecosystem where the appearance of moral excellence has become more valuable than the actual, messy work of being a good person.
It’s an addiction. We crave that hit of dopamine when the likes roll in after a particularly biting take on a social justice issue. It feels like we’re doing something. It feels like we’re changing the world from our couches. But honestly? Most of it is just noise.
What is a Society of Virtue Porn Anyway?
The term isn't just a catchy slur for people who care about things. It describes a specific cultural shift. We’ve moved from a "guilt culture" (where you feel bad internally for doing wrong) to a "shame culture" (where your status depends on public perception). In a society of virtue porn, morality is performative. It’s a commodity.
Think about the "Blackout Tuesday" squares on Instagram back in 2020. Millions of people posted a black box. It was a peak moment for this phenomenon. While the intent for many was genuine, the result was a clogged feed that actually buried vital information from activists on the ground. It was the ultimate "look at me being good" moment that, in reality, achieved very little.
Journalist and author Douglas Murray has written extensively about this in The Madness of Crowds. He argues that as traditional structures like religion or local community have faded, we’ve filled that vacuum with social justice crusades that allow us to signal our "high status" to our peers. We aren't necessarily looking for solutions; we’re looking for validation.
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The Psychology of the Performative "Like"
Why do we do it? It’s not just because we’re narcissists. Well, not entirely.
Our brains are wired for tribalism. In the ancestral environment, being cast out of the tribe meant death. Today, being "canceled" or ostracized by our digital "tribe" feels like a modern version of that death. So, we signal. We use the society of virtue porn as a shield. If I’m the loudest person condemning the "villain of the week," nobody will look too closely at my own hypocrisies.
Psychologists call this "moral grandstanding." A study by Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke suggests that grandstanders have a desire to outdo others in their expressions of moral outrage. It’s a race to the top of the moral mountain. If you say something is "bad," I have to say it’s "literally the worst thing to ever happen." We lose nuance. We lose the ability to have a conversation because anything less than total, performative outrage looks like complicity.
Brands and the Business of Virtue
It isn't just individuals. Corporations are the biggest players in the society of virtue porn.
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Remember the Pepsi ad with Kendall Jenner? The one where she stops a riot by handing a police officer a soda? That was a catastrophic failure of corporate virtue signaling. It tried to co-opt the visual language of the Black Lives Matter movement to sell sugar water. It was hollow. It was cynical.
But companies keep doing it because, statistically, Gen Z and Millennials want to buy from "purpose-driven" brands. So, brands slap a rainbow on their logo in June—but only in Western markets. They don't change their profile pictures in countries where being LGBTQ+ is illegal. That’s the "porn" aspect—the visual stimulation of virtue without the structural sacrifice.
The High Cost of Looking Good
There is a real-world price to pay for living in a society of virtue porn. When we prioritize the feeling of being right over the efficacy of our actions, we get "slacktivism."
- Policy stagnation: We scream on Twitter instead of lobbying local school boards.
- Burnout: We are constantly outraged by everything, which means we have no energy for the things we can actually change.
- Polarization: Virtue porn requires a villain. We stop seeing people as humans and start seeing them as "content" to be dunked on.
Social media algorithms are the gas on this fire. They don't want nuanced debate. They want high-arousal emotions. Anger and self-righteousness are the highest-arousal emotions there are. The platforms are literally designed to turn us into performers in this theater of morality.
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Breaking the Cycle: How to Be Actually Good
If we want to move past the society of virtue porn, we have to embrace the "boring" side of morality. Real virtue is usually quiet. It’s usually private. It often involves talking to people you disagree with without recording the interaction for clout.
1. The 24-Hour Rule
Before you post about the latest viral scandal, wait 24 hours. Honestly, just wait. By then, more facts usually come out. You’ll realize your "hot take" wasn't that necessary. If you still feel the need to act, do it off-screen. Donate. Volunteer. Call a representative.
2. Audit Your Intentions
Ask yourself: "Would I still do this if I couldn't tell anyone about it?" If the answer is no, you’re likely engaging in virtue signaling. There’s a difference between raising awareness and raising your own status.
3. Embrace Complexity
The world isn't a Disney movie. Most people aren't pure evil or pure saints. A society of virtue porn demands binary thinking. Resist it. Read long-form articles. Listen to podcasts that challenge your worldview. Stop following accounts that only provide "rage-bait."
4. Localize Your Virtue
It is much easier to save the world on the internet than it is to help your neighbor move a couch. Focus on your immediate community. Small, tangible actions have a ripple effect that a retweet never will. Real virtue is a muscle, not a costume.
The digital age has turned our moral compasses into compasses for social navigation. We spend so much time making sure others think we are good that we forget to actually be good. It’s time to close the tabs, put down the phone, and engage with the world as it is—messy, complicated, and desperately in need of more than just a "like."
Actionable Steps for a More Authentic Life
- Unfollow "Outrage Merchants": Identify three accounts that exist solely to make you angry at "the other side" and hit unfollow. Your nervous system will thank you.
- Set a Charity Goal: Commit to a recurring monthly donation to a local organization—even if it's just $10. Don't post the receipt. Keep it as a private commitment to your values.
- Practice "Steel-manning": When you encounter an opinion you hate, try to argue the best possible version of that opinion in your head before you dismiss it. It builds intellectual empathy.
- Volunteer Offline: Spend two hours a month doing something physical—cleaning a park, serving food, or mentoring. The lack of an "edit" button in real life forces you to be present.