#UFSI

Apparently a new acronym has taken the social networking generation by storm–well, on Twitter and Tumblr, anyway. But, as we all know, it should make its way to Facebook eventually. Coined the day before Thanksgiving and soon after trending on Twitter, the acronym is UFSI: unfit for social interaction. Its creator, Tao Lin, defines UFSI as “lacking the necessary motivation, competence, meaning, worldview, desire, etc. to function within a social situation at an acceptable level.” Essentially, it’s everything we’re feeling and thinking but not outright saying when a person we don’t really want to hang out with (or even a friend who we just don’t have time to hang out with) asks us to go to lunch. “I’m busy/sick/tired etc.,” we say. Should we really just be saying, “Sorry, I’m UFSI today/this week/this month”?

A recent post from the Thought Catalog posits that we are the UFSI Generation. Today’s twentysomethings, along with the generation coming of age after them, are characterized by the amount of time they spend in front of a computer, which may be the culprit for the collective UFSI-ness. But as Audrey Allendale points out in that Thought Catalog post, we take being UFSI as a joke that connects us, a shared experience, rather than a liability that may cripple us. But how true is this–and do we really want to be known as the UFSI Generation? The Greatest Generation would be so proud.

This idea is particularly salient to me right now because I’m slipping into what could be considered my most UFSI stage of the last three months: ladies and gentlemen, finals time for law school is here. So I will definitely be out of commission, or UFSI, until mid-December. As much as this saddens me, I know I’m going to be UFSI because I have to be–otherwise, I’d be socializing like there was no tomorrow.

UFSI is not an inherently negative idea. We all have times where we just don’t feel like going out, don’t feel like socializing, for whatever reason. And that’s OK. But to be defined by UFSI is almost to be defined by ennui–in other words, when UFSI becomes your status quo, I’d venture to say that something is wrong. As much as we may joke about being UFSI, is there something unique about our generation that makes us more prone to being this way? It’s not like this is a novel idea; people have been feeling UFSI for centuries, but I guess someone’s finally put a name to the feeling. But do we really want to be the generation that embodies UFSI?

MTV’s True Life did a show one year called “I Live Another Life on the Web,” which probably captures the essence of UFSI better than any excuse I could come up with. If there’s anything to be learned from that episode, it’s that UFSI could become damaging–not that it will happen to everyone, but it’s a possibility for those who are already socially awkward in one way or another.

Don’t get me wrong: making light of our flaws and the trials of life is what makes everything a little more bearable when it would otherwise be hell. Laughter helps, even when it’s self-deprecating. (I’m in law school; I know.) But human beings are social creatures, and Internet interaction doesn’t always cut it. Yes, we all feel UFSI at times–and acknowledging that and laughing at it together binds us and makes us feel like we’re a part of something. But eventually, the UFSI must subside and give way to being FFSI: fit for social interaction. Alone time is nice. But sometimes, being a part of something in spirit is not enough. Because there’s nothing like being there.