Entoi

Entoi (Korean: 엔토이) was an online service operated by NHN from 2003 to 2004. Alongside the search engine Naver and the gaming portal Hangame, it was positioned as one of NHN's three major flagship services. Entoi was an entertainment-oriented blogging platform based on a "Star-Fan system." Users could upload various original content to their personal blogs to gather followers ("fans") and achieve the status of an online "star." Throughout this process, users could exchange a form of virtual currency called Uyu (literally "milk"). The website's official slogan was "A world that calls me a star." Following a year of planning and development, Entoi underwent a beta testing phase in August 2003 and officially launched its paid services in September 2003. Conceptualized as one of NHN's most promising business ventures, it initially garnered explosive interest from netizens. However, its popularity rapidly declined as the core "Star-Fan" economic cycle failed to function effectively due to several systemic issues. In response, NHN implemented measures such as making the service entirely free and adding a direct shortcut link on the Naver portal homepage. Despite these efforts, the platform failed to achieve significant growth. Late in 2004, Entoi was integrated into Hangame as an internal feature before ultimately being shut down.