Facebook has hit back at Princeton university after some criticism (Picture: AP)

Facebook has mocked Princeton University by claiming it could lose all of its students by 2021 after the institution predicted the social network’s demise.

Earlier this week, researchers from the US university claimed Facebook’s best days were behind it and the site would shed 80 per cent of its users by 2017.

Unsurprisingly the report didn’t go down too well with the social network and a Facebook analyst has now claimed Princeton’s future is not too rosy either.

‘In keeping with the scientific principle “correlation equals causation”, our research unequivocally demonstrated that Princeton may be in danger of disappearing entirely,’ said Facebook’s Mike Develin.




The analyst mimicked procedures used in Princeton’s report and turned them around on the university.

He claimed Facebook likes and Google searches had shown an alarming trend for the university based in New Jersey.

He added: ‘This trend suggests that Princeton will have only half its current enrollment by 2018, and by 2021 it will have no students at all, agreeing with the previous graph of scholarly scholarliness.’

After claiming the air we breathe could also be gone soon, Mr Develin admitted he was just trying to make a point with the study.

‘We don’t really think Princeton or the world’s air supply is going anywhere soon. We love Princeton (and air),’ he said.

‘Not all research is created equal – and some methods of analysis lead to pretty crazy conclusions.’