When and where I grew up, they were just part of the Christmas/New Year ritual, like pulling crackers, that one knew about, might even go through the motions of, but was not to be performed with any seriousness. (Religion was practised in much the same way.) The trope (there's an idea: LifeTropes!) was that no-one ever keeps New Year Resolutions longer than a couple of days at the outside. Failure is inevitable, inherent in the very idea of making a resolution.

These days, I've no use for that loser shit.