Social media sites are big business, and reportedly expanding. Facebook has more than 200 million active users, half of which log in to check the site every day and Twitter, the micro-blogging site, has been embraced by traditional media companies such as CNN. With that many people logging on and participating, using this tool for social entrepreneurship seems to be gaining in popularity.

Social entrepreneurship involves using the principles of entrepreneurship to create a venture with a focus on social change, not just profit.

A recent article in the Citizen, the newspaper for the Harvard Kennedy School, looked at the many social enterprise ideas students were launching. Ideas range from peer-to-peer clothing swaps to social media sites offering help with the graduate admissions process for various programs. Some are for-profit businesses; some are focused on non-profit organization.

“Working on a start-up is a nice way to add a practical application to what I’m learning here and get great feedback from classmates,” said Matt Joyce, a student at the school, according to the article.

Funding for social entrepreneurship is available worldwide. Groups like Ashoka have been sources of venture capital in the field for almost 30 years. Ashoka has operations in more than 60 countries and an annual budget of some $30 million. With the ever-growing ability to connect social networks online, those who have learned the skills to become an entrepreneur are finding better and stronger tools with which to implement their vision of how to change the world for the better.