Social networking sites have turned into something of a boon for politicians like Barack Obama, the New York Times reports today. In fact, one of the founders of Facebook, Chris Hughes, is in charge of developed Obama's web presence, a strategy that has helped the candidate rake in more than 2 million donations of less than $200 a pop.

That's a neat sum of money—which got me thinking about whether small businesses could leverage social networking in the same way. Already there are thousands of businesses that have pages on social networking sites, although there appears to be little data regarding whether their online presence actually boosts business. Certainly applications like new The Visa Business Network on Facebook are designed to help entrepreneurs use social networking to their advantage. But does it work? While candidates like Obama have found some success using these sites the truth is that politics are still sexier than small business, and that a Facebooker is likely more inclined to seek out an affiliation with a politician like Obama because it says something about them friending your small business probably doesn't. Beyond that, when most people get on Facebook they're simply looking to connect with friends, maybe trash talk on someone's Wall, and to update their profile pics. What they're probably not doing is looking for buying opportunities or businesses they're interested in - which is part of the reason advertising on social sites has proven so tricky.

Despite all that, if you're actually able to make friends on social networking site it can serve as a sleek way to quickly and easily transmit messages about new products or services, discounts, etc. to loyal customers. And it also could help spread the word about your business through your friends. Plus - done right -a social networking page has the potential to make your business seem cutting-edge and cool.

Does anyone have any experience—good or bad—using social networking for their small business? What about those of you who simple have a profile on Facebook or MySpace—would you consider friending a small business you liked? And would you seek those opportunities out given the chance?