Stick to your resolution this year by filming it for the Internet

All true, but some people can be spurred/motivated/whatever into doing things they might not be in the frame of mind to really want to do at that point in time.

New year’s resolutions are going to happen. The question is how we can help people to make sustainable progress on their goals, rather than spending January at the gym and quitting by the time February rolls around. This seems like a simple way of adding some accountability, which is widely known to improve dedication to the kind of incremental improvement that most new year’s resolutions concern.

My approach is like yours. Set a goal and get to it. This year I plan to gain 20 pounds and rekindle my love for various hobbies. :)

There can be a downside to it, but just as likely, if not more so, a positive benefit. Most people need something beyond willpower to motivate themselves and setting up stakes and urgency can dramatically help. If you want to avoid the possibility of public embarrassment, the site Stickk with the stakes of money going to a charity you dislike if you fail is a powerful motivator as well.

Some people (most?) operate better when there are external motivating factors and a sense of accountability. It's hard to do something for yourself by yourself. It can be easier when friends, family and even strangers are there to offer encouragement and hold you to the goals you've set for yourself. For example, I think that's the biggest value add of joining CrossFit vs joining a regular gym.

Is there really any significant social pressure to make a new years resolution?

I more see it as an option to make decisions at the same time as others, which some might find useful for reasons I will describe later in this post.

You describe the service as an option to make those that succeed look good/get attention, and those that fail look bad (publicly).

You probably intended this as a complaint, but to me it seems like a more neutral thing, if words with more neutral connotations were used.

Some people might have trouble staying with their decisions if they just made the decision, at some random time. Announcing their decision creates an additional incentive for them to succeed, which I reckon for some people is enough to push them past the edge into success.

Creating disincentives for oneself for things that seem appealing in the short term is a valid course of action to help one make preferred decisions.

People are not perfectly rational. Knowing this helps them plan things to avoid making poor decisions.

Having it at new years is nice for aesthetic reasons, and having a designated day for it makes people more comfortable announcing their decision, and also solves the problem of people putting things off. Some people will repeatedly decide "oh, I'll do it next month/week."

With new years, there's a definitive day, where its harder to delay it. (of course, one can say "oh, I'll do it next new years.", but that's kind of a ways away, which makes it less likely)

Generally, new years resolutions are an option, not anything people are socially forced into, from my experience.

Note that I am only a high school student, so I may be less aware of affects of social things, or other things one learns abouth through life experience.