Old vs. New

Presently, new media can be described as any web applications coming after Web 2.0: Software that emphasizes community participation and collaboration among users over the internet. Social networks (Facebook, Playstation Network, Xbox Live), wiki software (MediaWiki), and weblog software (Blogger, Wordpress, LiveJournal) are all examples of new media that allow the individual user to communicate freely with other users. Web 2.0 applications also aren't simply finished once they're consumed by the end-user. They can be modified and updated by either the users themselves or by the original creators to meet the changing needs of the users and creators.

Old media can be described as anything coming before Web 2.0. Books, newspapers, radio, television, and even Web 1.0 all fall into this category. Web 1.0 qualifies as web applications that did not have any true community aspects to them. They were simply produced, provided to the end-user, and consumed. Updates were limited to creator-made updates without any real input from the user.