Blackboard suffers from slow development, poor aesthetic design, poor social networking and student engagement interaction design. Its main advantage is that it is secure and students are automatically signed up in their classes, but if a student fails to pay his/her fees on time, they no longer have access to Blackboard -which can create a bump in the students progress in the class.
Facebook, which has great scalability and development, good aesthetic and interaction design, and a huge base. You can set up private and public groups, create events, etc. Students are familiar with the Facebook interface, and since it is a platform they are comfortable with, their engagement level in the course can increase.
You can't post grades in Facebook, but you can use Blackboard's separate secure gradebook. You can't give multiple choice exams or quizzes in Facebook, but you can in Blackboard.
In terms of privacy issues, the student of today is quite adept at self-censoring information that they post in public.
By posting drafts of assignments and essays, students benefit from peer review and are often more conscious and careful with their writing, since they know it will be seen by everyone, not just the instructor.
(Source: http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/2007/06/facebook-vs-blackboard.html )
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