SOCIAL media continually gets slammed for its downfalls, but here’s an example of how it can be great.

Rewind 10 years ago, and Ian Tomlinson would have had to wait for the library to open so he could photocopy a picture of his beloved Alfie before heading out around town with a staple gun attacking every tree in sight.

By the time anything would have registered with anyone, Alfie might well have been given multiple new owners and the pooch and his master would never have been reunited.

As it was, it was slapped straight up on Facebook and the picture was shared more than 20,000 times.

If we assume that each of those users who shared it has 600 friends on the site – that’s a reach of millions.

All in a matter of hours.

Well done to everyone who clicked “share”.