How the Web could help you keep your New Year's resolutions
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    New Year’s resolutions have officially gone digital. Websites make it possible for users to keep track of their promises and create a virtual support system to help them achieve personal success.  Here are the pros and cons of some popular sites.

    My Resolution 2011

    Pros

    Daily Challenges
    Every morning, the website sends you an email giving you a small task to complete that day. They are easy to follow and address a wide range of areas in your life — do 12 wall push-ups, clean your email inbox and review your checking account, for instance.

    iPhone App
    You can take the website with you and access it anywhere, making it very easy to be involved and stay on top of your resolution.

    Cons

    Dependence on Facebook and Twitter
    In order to gain access to the website, you must give it access to your Facebook information, which may bother people who like their privacy.

    Inability to see other users’ resolutions
    The site doesn’t allow access to other users’ resolutions, creating a lack of a supportive community.

    43 Things

    Pros

    Ability to make a list of multiple resolutions that you can delete at will
    If you are a multi-tasker, you can add more than one resolution to your list.  If you complete your goal or change your mind, you can delete and replace one or all of your resolutions.

    Option of logging in through Facebook
    Having the luxury of either accessing the site through Facebook or independently makes it easy to adapt the website to your own lifestyle.

    Ability to see the resolutions of those in your geographic location.
    Not only can you easily look at what other users plan to achieve, but you can also look at the top resolutions of users in your area.

    Con

    Lack of interesting appearance
    Without any visual stimuli, the website appears a little drab, making it difficult to stay interested for a long period of time.

    Start a Resolution

    Pros

    Colorful interactive graphics
    All resolutions are presented in different colored bubbles that you can customize according to your personal taste.  You can scroll backwards and see what others have resolved to do.

    Personal coach
    Once you sign up, the website assigns you a personal coach you can talk to about keeping your resolution.

    Independent from Facebook
    You don’t have to gain access through Facebook in order to participate, which means no annoying notifications and no worrying about your lack of privacy.

    Element of competition
    The size of the bubble determines how involved you are on the website.  The less involved you are, the smaller your resolution bubble will be. Comparing your progress to the progress of others may motivate you to try harder.

    Cons

    Limited Goals
    The site lets you set only one resolution at a time, which users may find confining.

    Cannot remove your resolution without emailing the website
    If you want to change or delete your resolution, you have to email the website administrators and tell them to remove it.

    But this is only a small sampling of the numerous websites and apps aimed at helping you do the legwork of keeping your New Year’s promises. If you know of others, list them in the comments — and tell us what you think of them.

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