The old, universal 'like' model of social media is getting a facelift as a new startup turns likes into cash. Belacam.com (operated by Belacoin) has been live for many months now and has grown their user base from 5000 users to more than 10000 users. They are projected to hit 100000 users before the end of the year.

What is Belacam?

Belacam is a standalone photo-sharing site that is completely separate from Instagram. It makes use of an automated micropayment system to send belacoins from one user to another with each 'like'. For example, when Dave 'likes' Sally's photo, Dave automatically gives Sally a belacoins from his own account. Sally can withdraw the belacoins such as Poloniex or use it to like other users' posts.

Belacam creates one of the first social media economies where money is directly integrated into online social interaction. Most importantly, it is the first of these economies centered around image-sharing. Belacam will have wide appeal but is expected to be particularly well received by Generation Z: the demographic body of people born later than 1995. Members of Generation Z are creative, prefer images over text, and respond better to financial incentives than other generations.

Although mainstream social media economies may still be a few years away, Belacam is well-positioned to be a frontrunner in the business of facilitating economic social media transactions.