Social media seems to be the current "happening thing" Everyone is asking the questions - "Are you on XYZ?" (XYZ being replaced by the newest social media network) and "How many profiles have you got?"

It's all the bandwagon effect. You jump in because your friend already has. Otherwise, you don't really bother.

But apart from all the hype, isn't there an opportunity where you can use the social media to your advantage? Get better ranks on the SERPs using the social media push?

I prefer to believe - Yes, we can use social media to get better ranks on SERPs.

1. Social media helps in propagating your content. The power of social media is incredible. We are not talking about direct links or link building here. It can help travel your content at alarming speeds to the length and breadth of the Internet. This is not possible by any other technique today. Not SEO, not marketing, not link bait, nothing. Social media is an exclusive highway where if you have good looking, well drafted quality content, you'll be "fueled" to travel unknown distances. 4 years ago, this wasn't possible and no matter how much great content you had, you had to try all the tools to see if you'd get the mileage. This is possible much more easily now with social media.
2. One stop place for submission. Gone are the days when you had to submit your content to 143 odd directories and wait for your content to travel and get the attention. On social media, it's just a matter of submitting to one point, and everything after that is history.
3. Click a button and get free incoming links from 1000's. That button could be the yellow Digg button or the green SU one. If you have some killer content, submit it to the social media outlets and click that button. Take a shower, come back, and you'll often see new links and a large stream of traffic. Which other service (free or paid) can get you this?
4. Get on the top of SERPs. You can get on the top of SERPs in no time with social media. Ex: Submit a story to Digg and if it gets a decent response, the story is likely to get on top of the SERPs, and despite the fact that your site may not be on the first page, the direct link from Digg will give you more traffic than your own site. So, there is no effort from your side apart from writing good killer content.
5. If you know to read the mind of the masses, you are unstoppable. Are you the type who can read people's minds? Are you the type who can anticipate what people would expect and how they'd behave? If so, you are probably a social media expert. It's all about appealing to the masses. This may involve writing great content, getting to make more friends, and baiting people to subscribe to you. Either way, it works. 

Essentially, I think it is very much possible for SEOs to use social media to get the attention and ranks they need for their websites. We may be a bit young to discuss the solid rules about this, and it's more about trial and errors and calculated guesses. But it's going to be sorted out soon, and as more and more people realize the potential of social media for SEO, these rules would only be a guess.