Social media sites were abuzz with jokes like there was no tomorrow this weekend, as predictions of the 'rapture' happening on Saturday gathered momentum and subsequently flopped.
While there have been countless doomsday predictions before, the prediction by Harold Camping, a US radio host and leader of an obscure Christian movement, caught headlines and spread like wildfire on the Web.
Despite the fact that Camping's previous predictions about the Apocalypse never materialised, he still managed to convince a number of followers that at 6pm, on 21 May 2011, Judgment Day would be upon us.
Camping predicted there would be massive earthquakes (time zone by time zone at 6pm exactly), and that believers would ascend to heaven, while everyone else would be left to wander the earth until 21 October, when they would meet a fiery end.
For the vast majority, the prediction was impossible to take seriously and, instead, provided a great source of online entertainment.
Live-blogging Judgment Day
AOL Weird News set up an Apocalypse live-blog to monitor any doomsday coverage. According to reports, there were a couple of earthquakes with greater than a 5.0 magnitude, but they were not considered as anything out of the ordinary.
The most major event was a volcanic eruption in Iceland - which happened to occur at the country's most active volcano.
On Facebook, the number of fans for pages that looked at the lighter side of the prediction proved a lot more popular than those that were taking rapture preparations seriously.
The Random Acts of Rapture event gathered close to 8 000 attendees, with people posting amusing pictures of clothing left in public places, posed as if the wearer had been taken in the rapture.
We're still here
May 21, 2011 6:01pm and I was alive when the world ended on May 21st, 2011, with over 226 000 fans. The somewhat more serious Rapture Ready page pales in comparison with only 320 fans.
A search for “rapture” on the social networking site reveals a number of witty takes on the failed prediction:
“The Rapture did apparently happen, but NOBODY qualified,” said one user.
Another more scientifically minded Facebooker quipped: “Oh dear, we seem to have neglected Relativistic effects when calculating the date of the Rapture. If God is everywhere at once, then he must be experiencing time at a relativistically slowed rate, much like how a photon does not experience time moving. So taking this into account, the 21st of May for him will be.... at the end of space-time and the universe. Oh well.”
Twitter was also abuzz with tweets about the rapture rumours. The micro-blogging site has proved highly valuable in the past when it has come to natural disasters and times of crisis, but as the clock hit 6pm in different time zones, the Twitterverse watched as nothing happened:
“#FF - Ah, what does it matter... #rapture”
“I've survived Y2k, 9/11, Bird Flu, H1N1, 6-6-2006 and now the rapture/apocalypse. Bring on 2012, I'm a survivor!”
“The only thing that is getting judged is the psychological state of Harold Camping.”
“Since God didn't bother to kill us this weekend, I'll be continuing my daily dealings, as it's Monday. No earthquakes, no rapture, just work.”
Rapture reality
A number of spammers also jumped on the rapture bandwagon, sending out mass e-mails from inchristalive@gmail.com. Camping's “Family Radio” station also spammed inboxes with e-mails urging the recipients to make their peace with God (and follow the given links).
For a number of believers, however, the rapture rumours have been far from a source of amusement. According to reports, a group of about 80 South Africans, led by local evangelist Johannes Coetzee, booked into the Devonshire Hotel, in Johannesburg, in preparation for the rapture - and are now left with a sizable bill.
Coinciding with the announcement of the local government election results, some Twitter users commented:
“End of the world? Never. According to Rev Zuma, ANC will rule until Jesus comes, so maybe 2014 is the end.”
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