How About a Social Network For Elegant People?

In case you were wondering where it has been all of these years, a Facebook for really rich people–more accurately known as Netropolitan–launched this week.

Boy, Tom Perkins probably wishes this platform existed before he submitted his infamous letter to the Wall Street Journal. The online club was specifically created as a private haven for discussions that are relevant to wealthy members.

“Netropolitan is designed to be the place to talk about your last European vacation or new car without the backlash,” press representative Michelle Lawless told the Los Angeles Times. The network calls itself “the online country club for people with more money than time.”

And when it comes to cost, Netropolitan isn’t messing around. First year membership fees will set you back $9,000. Every year-long subscription after that is $3,000. (The site is ad-free.)

As with any country club, there are a few rules:

1. In order to register, you must use your real name and be over 21 years old.
2. Soliciting is strictly forbidden.
3. You may not treat a customer service representative as your personal concierge. “Our Member Service Associates will not book you a charter jet, or find you tickets to a sold-out Broadway show. They exist solely to help members technically navigate and find their way around the social club,” the website says.

“This is 100% real, and I believe there is a need and an audience for this service,” Netropolitan founder James Touchi-Peters told CNN. Touchi-Peters is a composer and the former conductor of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra.

He didn’t say how large he expects the site’s user base to grow or exactly how many people belong to the group right now. Touchi-Peters did say that a select group of members have been approved to join and that the network will always be very exclusive.

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