How social media app Lyka took the Philippines by storm

What if you can earn cash by simply using social media platforms, even if you’re not an influencer?

Things I Like Company Limited, a Hong Kong-based social media startup, is taking an against-the-odds bet on the attention economy that has been dominated by big tech firms.

Launched in the Philippines in 2019, its app Lyka has about 5.5 million monthly active users, according to the company, citing data from Mixpanel. And unlike other social networks, Lyka’s users are compensated with virtual gift cards for posting, liking, sharing, and commenting.

Its Silicon Valley-based CEO Ryan Baird envisions a future where “nobody will be giving away their data for free” and wants to turn social media users into actual partners with skin in the game.

Lyka has become popular enough in the Philippines that in late July, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – the country’s central bank – ordered the suspension of the platform’s payment system, pending compliance with licensing requirements.

Decoding Lyka

The Philippines was chosen as the launching pad for Lyka for several reasons.

We Are Social estimates that the country has some 89 million social media users as of January 2021. With a user base that’s familiar with digital transactions and a pervasive celebrity culture, the Philippines is a great laboratory for a social media startup that knows which cultural buttons to push.

Lyka realized early on that the biggest button of all was financial incentives. “In Southeast Asia, specifically the Philippines, the average person makes about US$500 to US$600 a month,” Baird said in a recent interview with CNN Philippines.

“If we can help people in the Philippines make US$50 to US$500 a month extra, that makes a big impact. That’s why we launched outside of Silicon Valley – because we can make a bigger impact than we could inside the United States,” Baird added.

Other apps like blockchain-based game Axie Infinity also caught on in the Philippines for similar reasons.

See also: Explaining Axie Infinity and its mercurial rise

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