Image by Jonas Denil for Unsplash 
While virtual online events might not have the sense of community and the spectacle of “in real life” live events, on the positive side, without the need for physical proximity, there’s greater and easier access to concerts, entertainment and culture in general.
Examples are the exclusive, limited, online runs of theatre performances that many of us would have never had the chance to see, and limited runs of historic concerts that are typically not freely available to watch online.
While two weekends ago was all about the Lady Gaga-curated Global Citizen online festival, this weekend’s big event will like be the celebrity-studded, 24-hour, livestreamed Call to Unite event, kicking off at 8pm EST — that’s 2am Saturday morning in South Africa — and running right through until early Sunday morning. The long list of participants includes Oprah Winfrey, Alanis Morisette, Angelique Kidjo, Marie Kondo, Naomi Campbell, Quincy Jones, Common, George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and many more.
According to the unite.us website, where viewers can watch, in addition to on Facebook,
Youtube, Twitter and Twitch, “Throughout the event, global leaders will join citizens of the world in sharing practices, prayers, songs, reflections and more to help you turn the pain of this moment into possibility for tomorrow.”