Points of comparison between The Alumni Portal and Facebook:

Exclusivity:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No

This is the biggest drawback. No one thinks about their school/college when they are on Facebook.

Event Calendar:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	Yes

Facebook has an events.

Forums:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	Yes

Basic Forums.

Chat:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	Yes

Statistics show that most people do not use Facebook chat because there are numerous people who see them online and want to chat. Since The Alumni Portal is exclusive, less people and more focused the conversation.

Organize Reunion:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	Yes

Technically yes on Facebook. But it gets lost as just any other event.

Faculty Information:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No

Facebook doesn’t have Faculty information section.

Profile:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No

Facebook is more personal and professional information shared is very less. If you want to find someone who is in your industry/profession, it is not possible on Facebook. For that you will have to use LinkedIn or any other social network. TAP provides this functionality at its best.

Special Interest Group:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No

Facebook Groups are general purpose groups accessible to all.

Find a Friend:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No

No one ever has control on this. Not everyone from your class will be in your Facebook list. In Alumni Portal’s case, user accounts are created by the institute. So by default everyone is on the platform.

Region wise Chapters:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No

Every chapter can have a Facebook group/page, but who controls it? Who owns it? What if the committee changes?

Look and Feel:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No

This is one of the main reasons. With Alumni Portal, students and institute feel more involved and serious. Whereas on Facebook, you always get to other purposes.

Job:

The Alumni Portal	Facebook
Yes	No