Crowdsourcing Breakups – What to do with an unused engagement ring?

Social media is a powerful tool for creating new relationships. Every day we make connections through friends, and friends of friends, as we go about our social media journey.

The purpose of the Social Media Adventure was to demonstrate this potential with live case-studies by journeying across the country to meet in-person those friendships that were previously only online. Social Media has helped me create these relationships with hundreds and hundreds of people.

But, do we ever consider how social media can be used to help end a relationship?

A New Perspective On Crowdsourcing

For those of you just tuning in, it was through twitter that I met my former girlfriend-turned-fiancée. (A mutual follower introduced us and said we should connect.)

It’s been over six months since that relationship ended. Over that period of time, I’ve gotten one common question that I haven’t came up with a good answer for yet:

What are you going to do with the ring?

I don’t know, honestly. I do know that it isn’t doing any good sitting in my change jar, though. ;) A friend pointed out to me that it might actually be a good idea to do something with it… and I have to admit that they’re right, but what??

And, since it was social media that helped start the relationship, why not let social media help wrap it up as well?

So… What should I do with the ring?

Engagement Ring

What to do? Best idea wins a prize..

It’s a simple enough question. But, being as close to the situation as I am, I don’t have a simple answer.

I’ve gotten a ton of great suggestions from people who have been close to the situation, and probably just as many from those who don’t know anything about it.

I’ve even played a few pranks with it (stories for another post, possibly) but offering it to a waitress to settle my dinner bill hasn’t worked so far. (kidding)

So… What do you say?

Best Idea Wins An Awesome Prize (Not the ring, though)

Here’s your chance to have an opinion and make some money for expressing it! Weigh in with your opinion on what I should do with the engagement ring. (The “salad” as I’ve affectionately come to call it)

The best answer wins a $25 gift card of your choice… (And I’ll probably make a video about you that ends up on TV)

Rules:

  • I’m not going to give it to anyone else as a gift, that’s lame. #justsaying
  • No animals shall be harmed with your idea.

Ummm, that’s about it for rules. Just don’t be tacky, k?

Be creative. Go!

After you post a comment with your idea, send me a tweet to let me know. (use the hashtag #crowdsourcing so everyone can follow along)

Popularity: 17% [?]

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  • http://www.facebook.com/charlotte.salafia Charlotte Butler Salafia

    I always feel there is bad energy that surrounds the ring once the engagement is off for the couple involved. I feel that the ring could be sold at a consignment shop or pawn shop and the money could go toward something constructive like a charity or assisting a friend who is in need. 

    Another couple could then use that ring for their happy occasion. The energy would change with a new couple. It’s not the rings fault :)  

  • wendy

    my ex-husband proposed with a refigured diamond his grandma received from her first husband. it was steeped in family. i wore it proudly, thinking it was so special. when our marriage ended, i gave back both the engagement ring as well as the wedding band (which also contained gram’s diamonds – from her second husband…) because it felt right. it was, after all, her rings, from her husbands. 

    i think when someone gives a ring with the intention of marriage, that ring should be clear of any other energy. it should be new, as the marriage which will ensue is. if the engagement or marriage is broken, the giver of the ring must take back that ring and come to terms with the lessons they’ve learned from the break-up. if the lessons are not learned, they will represent over and over. 

    *my* idea for you joseph, is to write all the things you have learned from the dissolution of this relationship. about you, about relationships, about love, sex and and what you perceived then (and how it’s different now). i say you take the ring, and that lesson you’ve put into writing and you bury it or throw it into the lake or ocean. acknowledge. then break the energetic ties. no one else (including you) can wear it (in any form). the money you would make from selling it (or it’s parts) cannot be used. that’s my 2 cents. i wish you all and nothing but the best. i love you. 

  • http://www.lalayu.com Alane

    Sell it. Go on a hot air balloon ride. Send the light, love, and energy from the ring up into the universe for safe keeping.  Donate the rest. : ) Xoxo. 

  • Jenna_Marion

    You should take the diamond off and make it into a pretty necklace for your mama!

  • Ashley

    My fiance broke off our engagement. He took the ring with him, intending to return it. Before he could return it, his car was broken into and the ring stolen. I had an insurance policy on the ring. I obtained the police report, filed a claim, received a check and (anonymously) donated half the amount to a cause he cares about, half to a cause of my choice. This was not a mutual decision and I am still devestated by his choice and his actions. The only way I could feel okay about our seperation was to turn my sadness into something positive for someone else. 

  • Joseph Ranseth

    Thanks Charlotte… I wonder if I could run some sort of a search to find a couple that might appreciate it? Do some sort of a contest and give it away to the most deserving couple?

  • Joseph Ranseth

    Deep stuff, I like it… thanks for making me think. ;)

  • Joseph Ranseth

    He he, I like this one… and several people have already messaged me privately saying that the hot air balloon is TOTALLY the way to go. :)

  • Joseph Ranseth

    Aww, that’s sweet. Have you met my mom, yet? I don’t think she’d wear something like that… I’ll ask her indirectly and see what she’d say. :)

  • Joseph Ranseth

    That’s really cool, I like that… It gives me some other ideas, but I’ll keep them to myself in case someone else volunteers them. ;)

  • http://www.facebook.com/Carey.R.Hughes Carey Hughes

    I think there is no one right answer. I think the important thing is that whatever you do with the ring that is brings you closure. Maybe it’s tossing it into the ocean or selling it and donating the money to a cause that is poignant to you or giving it to someone who can’t afford to buy a ring. Speaking from experience “the ring” became a reminder of  the past and the longer you hang onto the past it becomes more difficult to move forward and heal. It finally hit me one day. Why do I still have this ring? I decided to pawn it and use the money to invest in my business, something I was very passionate about at the time. Financially it didn’t pay off, but the personal growth was worth it. 

  • http://twitter.com/celeste_noelle Celeste Noelle

    As promised…

     I personally love the idea of turning it into a good thing. That’s what I’ve had to learn over the last 6 months. The stories I’ve told myself about people and relationships over the years are just stories. I can change them anytime I want. And when I change them and turn them into something good, I find that letting go is much easier than “burying the hatchet” if you will.

    Hell, you love kids so much. I would pawn the ring, give the money to Make a Wish foundation and ask them if you can help out the kid that your donation will go to or something like that. How cool would that be to make a kiddo laugh and smile all day long because you’re doing something with him or her that they’ve ALWAYS wanted to do? That’s the kind of giving that you could NEVER get from a ring.

    Whatever you decide, you know it’s the right thing if you have no qualms about it:) Good luck!

    Celeste

  • Jfahlman

    So in a way you actually stole the ring from him, by stealing half the money and donating it to a cause you care about to make yourself feel good, and by stealing his freedom of choice to do what he wants to with his half of the money. Don’t think that you are any less immoral for stealing just because you donated toe proceeds to charity, all that does is compound the theft, because now you have the physical theft of the money, and also the theft of credit for a good deed that was never yours to perform in the first place.

  • Jfahlman

    I think you should keep the ring and use it to gay marry yourself, just to bring attention to a worthy cause. Then if you ever get sick of yourself, you could pawn it and use the proceeds to gay divorce yourself, and settle amicably by putting half your things on the left half of the room and the other half your things on the right hand side. Maybe this farce will make people realize what a joke it is to refuse to let gay people get married if they want to.

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