While the old-school party lines and over-the-back-fence rumour mills might be a thing of years gone by, there is no doub that this useful communication method is as strong as ever, thanks in part to the social media phenomenon.

On Friday, when police asked for assistance to promote the fact they had issued an arrest warrant for alleged sex offender Benjamin Batchelor, their plea was shared via the social media channels of media outlets across the Northern Territory within minutes, including the Katherine Times.

Before the advent of social media, such a task would not have been possible, especially in the case of a weekly publication that only had paper and ink to spread the message.

Now, our newsroom has the ability to reach tens of thousands of people each week via Facebook, Twitter and the Katherine Times website.

Last week alone, the Katherine Times reached more than 16,000 individual Facebook users by engaging with the 3200 people who like the page.

When it comes to social media, the numbers quickly stack up as to how crucial a role it plays in keeping a community connected in the 21st century.

At Saturday night’s October Business Month gala dinner, NAB’s social media guru Roger Seow proved just how much power and reach the communication medium could have in a world that never fully switches off.

The bush telegraph might have been given a bit of a technological makeover but it is just as powerful, if not more so, than ever before.