We are living in an era of information overload, and we feel obliged to categorize and tag everything and everyone. We put labels and brands on stuff, starting from our clothes to our food to our emotions. We need to know the TV programming and set our DVR’s to record at the exact time it starts. We put up little avatars and 140 characters on our biographies as if they could summarize who we are or what’s going on in our lives. News flash: they can’t. Not even remotely.

But we need to know what we’re looking at! What it’s related to! Who put a label on it, when and in which context! Surely, the need to tag everything is easy to understand. In the bottomless ocean of information, in order to find anything, we need at least a name. A description. A tag for cross-referencing. What if we wish to discuss or explore things, which can not be tagged? Things, which cannot be Googled?

I’m talking about what would happen if our known universe of information and communication happened to vanish.

I mean completely offline. Poof!

No Internet. No electricity. No phones. No batteries.

*Scary strings music in the background.

Ah, this can’t happen in my 21st-century country, you say. They’ve got that UPS-thingy for that, you say.
Oh, sure it can. Theoretically.

But we have achieved so much! We’ve got that thing on the Internet that gives Iran our voice of support in their time of need!
No we don’t, and all they have is your clicks and green ribbon avatars. Your voice stayed home, screaming to Guitar Hero.

Dude, come on, we’ve evolved. We’ve got real-estate agents, cellphones salesmen, web designers and SEO marketers.
Exactly.

Ahh, we’ll manage. They went to the moon! To Mars!
And yet, somehow, THEY didn’t invite YOU, did they?

But, but… What’s it called… Globalization! Virtualization! M… Mobilization!
It’s getting all too boring too soon. You don’t really know what it means, do you?

Here’s a simple manual for that, Oh-No!-What’s-Next?! moment.

1) I Want my MTV!
Yes, hours and hours of your precious movies and MP3’s are on that piece of metal, gathering dust in the corner. How would you entertain yourself? Would you get outside, God forbid?

2) Wikipedia?
Maybe there’s a book you never read laying around somewhere, packed with knowledge that you can’t scroll. A short reminder: that action you think of is called “flipping”.

3) What friends? You mean followers?
After Facebook and Twitter, you’d have to readjust the nature of your relationships. Yes, them – get up and speak to real people. Do you remember how it’s done? Or do you have to acquire your people skills all over again?

4) What could I do?
I am sure you’ve got some handy skill, like typing 100 words per minute or programming in PERL. Worthless, now, is it? Don’t you wish you had a real skill?

5) Who am I?
When all the ringing, buzzing, tweeting, blipping and waving stops – the voice in your head will ask you one question, eventually. Who Are You? And then you will have to listen, think, and answer it.

It’s time to be true to yourself and try to answer that question honestly to yourself.

You’re not limited to a number of words or characters.

So, who are you?