Recently I’ve had nearly identical conversations with two reporters I know and respect. They were both complaining about the content on Forbes.com, citing features from the past year like top beaches — pieces that are closer to the content expected from USA Today, and further from what is expected from Forbes.

My comment to each, in separate conversations, was that Forbes has done an enviable job of opening a hearty can of whoop-ass on many of its competitors and hanging in there with the solely online publications that have excelled, as you can see in this comparison between Forbes.com, Businessweek.com, and HuffPost.

Why do I think Forbes has done it right?

In a pill, they got over themselves, realizing that it’s not about Forbes, but the people reading Forbes — a demographic that has evolved. It’s about consumers and what they want in their daily media diet. And what we are seeing from consumers is that they want variety, they want the ugly blood and guts served with a side of fun and games.  Tax policy with a side of fart jokes.

There’s a reason why an Indiana University study found “The Daily Show” to be as substantive as network news, and a Rasmussen Report showed 32 percent of adults ages 30-39 believe that “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” are capable of replacing traditional news outlets.

There’s also a reason why instead of reading a morning newspaper when we get to work, we come in, grab a cup of coffee, and flip to our Live News Feed on Facebook and scroll through news items that our Facebook Friends have posted — ranging from genocide in a third world nation to leprechauns in Mobile, Alabama (no, really, you should click on the leprechaun link).

And as Forbes and HuffPost excel in online news, you see similarities in companies who are excelling in social media.

Zappos employees talk about anything and everything in social forums — not just shoes. Vegetarian (Communist) products brand Morningstar Farms does  a nice job with content on Facebook. And we counsel our client Charter Communications to place content in their social media channels that does not solely revolve around them.

So whether it be in traditional media circles, or in the online social realm — mediums that aggregate information should never forget that the content isn’t for you. It’s for the consumer.