While tele-evangelist Harold Camping’s apocalypse prediction (aka Rapture) failed to materialize (surprise, surprise!), it did get me thinking about the possibility of a social media “rapture” (aka SMR).

It’s an idea that may come across as bizarre or tongue-in-cheek, particularly by someone personally and professionally immersed in social media. But here’s my thinking: Everyone is so focused on being active on social media, having conversations, engaging and being authentic that I often wonder if social media is really that big of a deal.

Putting aside the enthusiasm of the publishers (bloggers, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube), how much excitement is there among consumers? Sure, they “Like” Facebook Pages but a “Like” is low-hanging fruit. And there are lots of people who watch YouTube videos but the most popular videos are fun and goofy.

It’s hard not to think that most of the engagement and conversations happening within social media are being driven by a relatively small group of people who are reading and commenting on each other’s tweets, blog posts, Facebook updates, etc. It’s a virtuous social circle that goes around and around.

But what happens if parts of this small minority start to lose their enthusiasm for social media? Would the bottom fall out of the social media landscape? Would there be a Rapture of sorts as social media gets exposed as something built a fragile foundation with fewer pillars than anyone imagined?

Throughout the whole social media phenomena over the past four or five years, I’ve often felt conflicted. While I’m excited and engaged about social media, I do wonder if we’re being too stoked at it. In other words, my pragmatism eats away at my enthusiasm.

It’s one of the reasons that I never described myself as a social media consultant being I didn’t want to pigeon-hole myself. Instead, social media is part of my marketing and communication strategic services portfolio that has more to do with helping companies tell their stories – be it via social media, a Web site, marketing collateral or corporate videos.

I think social media is wonderful for lots of reasons. And, to be honest, the possibility of social Rapture is, at best, remote. But I think it’s healthy to be cautiously optimistic.