Not so long ago, Princeton came out with a study by which it sought to show that Facebook (News - Alert)'s futures were much worse than virtually anyone expected. Said study noted that, by the 2015 – 2017 corridor, Facebook was likely to lose 80 percent of its user count thanks to an analysis of search trends in which the frequency of searches for Facebook dropped over 2012. Facebook subsequently fired back via a spokesperson, revealing that it believed the report was “utter nonsense.”

Facebook also referred to the study as “flawed throughout,” noting that the Princeton study likens Facebook to a “disease” that users were likely to recover from before too much longer. Princeton then, reportedly, used MySpace (News - Alert) as an analogy of how users start with a social network but subsequently stray from the path, so to speak. This is perhaps the most ironic part of the entire Princeton study, as it takes no note of Facebook's impact on MySpace, which some believe was actually the root cause of MySpace's death in the first place.

But Facebook didn't just take the Princeton report lying down; it instead struck back at the prestigious university with a counter-study using similar methods that showed Princeton was in just as much trouble as Facebook. Facebook turned Princeton's “causation equals correlation” methods, as said methods were described, onto a study in which Facebook discovered that, based on current search trends, Princeton would have no students by 2021. Facebook further noted, reportedly, that Princeton should be paying attention to the drop in the number of times “Princeton” is mentioned in journals rather than in Facebook's numbers.

The Princeton study's mechanics seem to falter in one critical point: people don't search for what those people already know how to find. Google (News - Alert) searches may be down, sure, but why would anyone need to search for Facebook on Google? Perhaps such users are looking for news about Facebook, or for commentary about same. If users are looking for Facebook itself, users go directly to Facebook. The Web address is hardly a secret anymore, so users that want Facebook go to Facebook as opposed to searching for Facebook then proceeding from the search engine.

But Facebook's picture is hardly all rosy. There are reports that teenagers—really one of the driving forces of Facebook use as well as its next generation of users—are leaving for alternatives like Twitter (News - Alert), Snapchat and WhatsApp. Other studies suggest that Facebook may be experiencing a bit of a drop thanks to the need to aggressively manage reputation on Facebook, a move not so immediately necessary on other social media sites. There's also a significant presence of older folks on Facebook, and teenagers are somewhat loath to use the same social media service that not only Mom and Dad are on, but so too Grandma and Grandpa.

The Facebook study may prove a bit of a black eye for Princeton, and though Facebook has at least some cause for concern thanks to the variety of competitors out there, Facebook's recent diversification strategies and improved focus on mobile should keep it around for quite some time to come. Facebook has cause for concern, but is actively working to prevent many possibilities from becoming realities.