The pandemic forced live events to go virtual. It may change access to entertainment forever.

Liz Locke wasn’t sure what to expect when she logged on to Twitter last April, cocktail in hand, for a virtual watch party of classic films. She was supposed to be attending the 2020 TCM Classic Film Festival, but when it was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, organizers announced they would instead air previous festival programming on the TCM cable channel that weekend. Locke gamely followed the #TCMParty hashtag and chatted with fellow movie fans as she watched “Network,” “Casablanca” and “Auntie Mame,” until something surprising happened — she realized she was having fun.