Five months ago, Victoria Fratz was trying to build a social media following, but was having a tough time standing out on platforms like Vine, which had already helped launch dozens of careers a couple of years earlier. That's when a handful of friends suggested she try out an app called Meerkat, which at the time was beginning to gain traction with a new tactic: Instead of posting bite-size clips, people would live broadcast from wherever they were, often for hours at a time. Intrigued, the 28-year-old Fratz tested it out and knew immediately that her social media aspirations were about to take off.
