One of the things we’ve realized while building and using GroupMe is that not all groups last forever. While most of the groups people create have long and fulfilling lives, there are definitely some times when you just don’t want to make that big of a commitment.

So today we’re releasing a new feature: short-term groups. When you start a group online or in our iPhone app, you now have the option to set your group to automatically end after a set period of time.

We’ve worked hard to make it simple and elegant, so when you create a short-term group, you have two options. You can end the group after tonight, or after this weekend. Easy as that.

Don’t worry, though; you’re not locked into it. We send a text to the group creator the next day, asking if they want to keep the group going. They can easily turn a short-term group into a normal group instantly.

Next time you’re going out for a crazy evening with a group of friends, create a group for tonight, and you can have a fun backchannel just for the night. Or if you’re going to a conference for the weekend with a few strangers, start a group so you can stay in touch over the weekend, but head right back to work on Monday with no new commitments.

Great, right? Let us know what you think on Twitter, or send us an email.