FT.com [free to read] Video chat app that allows spontaneous gatherings is replicating social life for millions stuck indoors – “This weekend, as much of the world retreated into coronavirus lockdown, it looked as though many people’s favourite activities were going to disappear with them: evening drinks, birthday parties, casual dinners with friends. But then came the viral video chat app Houseparty. “I’ve been to three or four different parties in one night,” said Andrew, a 30-year-old advertising executive, of the app, which allows users to congregate spontaneously with their friends via video hangout to carry out their usual social activities — just virtually. As millions of people have been told to stay at home in an unprecedented bid to curb the spread of the virus, Houseparty has become an overnight sensation — not only among company-starved millennials and Generation Z teenagers — but also their parents…” [h/t Pete Weiss]