Facebook's initial appeal was its exclusivity; only Harvard students could connect with each other on what later became the world's biggest social network.
A new social media sphere has appeared with a different hurdle in mind: a $9,000 membership fee. That's right--this is Facebook for the extremely wealthy.
Launched today, Netropolitan touts the tagline "the online country club for people with more money than time" on its homepage and says the site is completely private with no advertising whatsoever.
Netropolitan is essentially an online club for people like founder James Touchi-Peters, a composer and former conductor of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, who don't necessarily relate to the average people who use Facebook.
"I saw a need for an environment where you could talk about the finer things in life without backlash--an environment where people could share similar likes and experiences," said Touchi-Peters, as quoted by CNN.
After the initial $9,000 membership fee, users will pay $3,000 annually. Requiring payment for the service "ensures that our membership remains exclusive, but also private," Touchi-Peters explained.
"We view Netropolitan.club in the same light as any country club out there," he said as quoted by CNN. "They have initiation fees and yearly dues for members. Netropolitan is an online country club, focused on connecting members around the world. We believe there is a need for a community like this, and we are filling the need."
At least for now, all Netropolitan users will have access to each other's posts and statuses. Members must be at least 21 years old and have to use their real names.
Calling itself "a global online community for affluent and accomplished individuals worldwide," Netropolitan is totally private and cannot be accessed from search engines, while user communications to and from the site are encrypted, according to the company.
"We have gone to every known length possible to make the club private and secure," reads the website's About page.
The online club is completely free of advertising; however, business can make groups and users can advertise to one another as long as they follow "strict guidelines" on the site.
Netropolitan appears to be a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter, featuring the familiar Facebook profile format with photo, notifications and messages while allowing users to follow particular people to get their posts in a certain update stream.
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