My social whirl is getting a little exhausting. I had drinks with a friend last night and breakfast with another. One lot of friends is having a dinner party tonight, and there are others later in the week. Being rather competitive, I’m planning to outdo them all by throwing a black-tie ball. It will be the social event of the coronavirus season.
This is, you understand, all virtual. The middle-aged are repurposing teenage group-chat apps like Houseparty and work tools like the conferencing software Zoom to socialise; people I haven’t talked to for ages (sometimes with good reason) are getting in touch to while away the long slow evenings chatting.
The main hazard is not the software, which is simple enough for even the most