German social network, QUOTE.fm, aims to provide you with inspiring content in bitesize

I work in tech so when an app launches, my news feed will usually update in seconds. For breaking news about tech, the web has me covered. When it comes to great works of literature, the Internet doesn’t inspire. What if I need a little more Proust in my life?

Enter QUOTE.fm: a social network from Germany for quotes worth sharing. With short, pithy information at your fingertips, you’ll be exposed to news on culture, arts, politics, and just about everything else. According to Martin Wolf, co-founder of QUOTE.fm:

“We recognized that there was a lack of a platform to celebrate the digital written word. We don’t want to be another news aggregator, but to be a platform for great, timeless texts.”

Found something inspirational on the Internet? With QUOTE.fm, you can highlight the best bit, add a comment, and assign it to one of eleven possible categories.

It’s still in the early stages (and most of the chatter is not in English) but the site aims to be a dynamic channel of fresh and relevant content. You’ll be pushed outside of your comfort zone but you won’t be overwhelmed with information you find in the discovery tab.

I don’t speak German, so I couldn’t engage much in the lively discussion. The site’s 5000 users are a vocal bunch. Can anyone venture a guess about what this might mean? “Soziale Netzwerke: Euer Internet ist nur geborgt!” Speaking of “Soziale Netwerke”, my pet peeve is that whenever I share news it’s visible to all my contacts. So when I post about an app or acquisition, I can almost hear my arty, hipster friends groaning in protest. It’s true. I am far nerdier than them.

Like U.S. based competitor Skmmr you’ll be prompted to add a bookmarklet once you sign up, which you can use to extract your favorite quotes. On Skmmr, you can share news with circles of friends that it will best resonate with. Bookmarklets are a better way to select and share content.

Unlike Google Reader, which can get cluttered, the limited color palette doesn’t draw attention away from the content.  Like most great German design, the site was built with simplicity in mind. To make life easier for busy readers the ERT indicator, a particularly cool feature, displays the estimated reading time below each article.

QUOTE.fm is gearing up to capture the U.S. market. According to Wolf, an iPad app is under development and is slated for release in June.