Hyper-capitalism, not the medium, is the message: Communication technologies and culture

This article inverts Marshall McLuhan’s aphorism, ‘the medium is the message’, coined more than half a century ago, to make the argument that it is the message – in this case hyper-capitalism – that shapes the medium and governs the context in which media are introduced and operate. Harsh life conditions under hyper-capitalism make communication technologies, such as mobile phones and their numerous devices including text-messaging, a necessity. Hyper-capitalism cashes in on such communication devices without weighing their negative impact on culture. It is time that the system put people (and culture) before profit.