How it works

Some things are only worth doing if enough other people do them too. Asking for a raise. Turning up to a council meeting. Switching tools. Nobody wants to go first and be the only one.

On groupcommit.org, someone creates a commitment: “I'll do this, if enough of us do.” People sign up. Everyone can see how many have signed up.

1. If the goal is met by the deadline, everyone gets an email saying enough people have committed, and everyone who signed up is locked in.
2. If the deadline passes first, the commitment ends and nobody is bound.
3. Until the goal is met you can withdraw at any time.

Who's shown is set when the commitment is created, once for before the goal is met and once for after, and it stays that way. Each can be nobody's identity (only the count), names, or names and email addresses, for things like a signed open letter. Whatever is shown can be seen by anyone who can see the commitment. By default nobody is shown, before or after.

The settings of a commitment (who can see it, who can join, the goal, the deadline, who's shown before and after the goal, comments, and whether the creator can see email addresses) are fixed when it's created and shown before you sign up.