Day One's new Publish feature

Today, there’s a significant update to Day One, our favorite journaling and logging app. The update is a new feature called Publish, and it lets you selectively share your Day One entries to the Web.

You don’t have to share your published entries with your legions of social network followers. You see, people can only get to entries that they have the direct link to. So, say, for example, you publish two entries: one you share with all of your twitter followers and the other you share with just your family. Well, neither group will ever come across a link that would send them on to the other entry you published.

I think this is a great idea and may fill a void for me.  After ditching Facebook I thought I'd use everyme more to stay in touch with family but that hasn't really happened. I also really dislike the new direction they seem to be considering with the survey the new owners just sent out.  This might be a good way to post something semi-personal once in a while and then share via email with friends and family.  We'll see.

I also like how Day One chooses to explain the feature on their own product page:

Data Retention - Publish allows you to share and participate in multiple social networks, all the while keeping your source entry in a single location—your Day One journal. With this centralized, single source, you’re free to archive, print, and export your entries—even after you stop using a given social media service.

Taking control away from the huge social media services is always a good thing.