Facebook For The 1%; Netropolitan Is Here For You!!

It started today. Facebook for the 1 percent is here.

The Daily Digest News reported that Netropolitan has arrived. Netropolitan, billed as the “the online country club for people with more money than time” began service today. Chat with like-minded persons who usually don’t have enough time to chat or share thoughts and what not. And, if you’ve been waiting to pay for Facebook (even though the log-in page announces that Facebook “is free and always will be”), now’s your chance. A mere $9,000 dollars will get you into the club. That breaks down to the annual $3,000 sign-up fee and a one-time $6,000 initiation fee. Members must also be 21 years of age or older and able to verify their age.

What does $9,000 get you? You get a Facebook/FourSquare combination interface for those in the 1 percent. The “Facebook for the 1 percent” users have access to similar apps for activity, profile, notifications, messages, location, friends, and followers. An update box lets you tell fellow members “where you are and what you’re up to.”

Sounds familiar.

The fee also allows users to receive unlimited cloud file storage, which is “similar to paid services like Dropbox or SkyDrive,” the company said, without elaborating. The fee also provides for an ad-free environment. Members can post ads in a classified section, but the site promised to “never” display third-party advertising or promote certain products.

Tech Times reports that Netropolitan uses geolocation and a radius search to encourage its members to connect offline, but its stresses its site provides a secure environment for its users. Thanks to its annual membership fees, Netropolitan users can enjoy an experience free of ads and data marketing.

“We cannot stress this enough: Creating a private and secure environment for our members is one of the primary reasons this club exists,” announces Netropolitan.

“We do not sell or display third-party advertising; we do not sell or give away your personal data; and we work tirelessly to make our online environment as safe and secure as possible.”

Nor it is a concierge service. It will not find tickets to a sold-out show, or things like that. Its intent is for like-minded persons to have a social outlet, nothing more. They do have around-the-clock customer service support, however, but only to assist you with “the Facebook for the 1 percent.”

Netropolitan is the brainchild of composer James Touchi-Peters, who wanted “an environment where you could talk about the finer things in life without backlash.”

Michelle Lawless, a Netropolitan member and messaging specialist at Media Minefield, told the LA Times, “James and others have mentioned feeling judged for talking about certain topics on other social media outlets, like they were bragging and met with a little ill will,” says Lawless.

“Netropolitan is designed to be the place to talk about your last European vacation or new car without the backlash.”

The newly Netropolitan Club has already drawn criticism from outsiders, but Touchi-Peters argues that there is a need for services such as his elite social club.

“The way I look at this,” Touchi-Peters says, “I am simply providing a service to a section of the public that demands that.”

For $9,000, the “Facebook for the 1 percent” should be able to give that to you.

[Image courtesy of Netropolitan]