What is Meerkat and why is Twitter trying to kill it in the womb?

Call it Schrödinger’s app: You probably just heard about Meerkat, and people are already saying it’s dead. Meerkat is a new video app for iOS that allows anyone to launch a live stream using their iPhone or iPad. You could think of it like FaceTime, except you’re broadcasting to anyone in the world rather than just to Aunt Millicent in Denver. Start a video stream from Meerkat and the app will automatically tweet a link to it, allowing anyone to click it and watch from their laptop, phone or tablet. Its popularity has soared since its late-February launch. On Saturday, it was the 59th most popular social networking app in the App Store, according to App Annie, a feat that coincides with the buzz it’s received at South by Southwest this weekend. But Twitter may have killed it on Friday. As Mat Honan reported for Buzzfeed, the social media giant removed Meerkat’s ability to import social connections from its (much larger) platform. This effectively means Meerkat can’t piggyback off the years of social buildup you may already have on Twitter.