Java Online Communities and Social Networks

I have yet to find a useful, successful social network built in Java. Am I missing something? Yes Java looks flash but for the user, it’s a nightmare. Why do the big companies go with Java? I am not a Java dev and I really want to know. I love Java games and little interactive widgets. But whole sites? From NMA:

Pepsi revamps site in community bid

Pepsi has revamped its UK website as the first stage of a radical overhaul of its digital presence. The drinks brand has developed what is intended to be a central hub of content, featuring a video wall of TV spots, user-generated content and links to popular websites. Windows on the video wall are dynamic, changing in size to represent the popularity of each subsection, while others will drop in and out as and when campaigns start and finish. “

Pepsi UK “online community” – doesn’t follow any of the rules of building social networks. I predict yet another beautiful digital graveyard. The “user generated content” is those cans I talked about before. Warning, it doesn’t remember your preference not to blare music out at you, and it runs a script in the background that locked out my firefox until I clicked out and back in. Yummy?

I registered

It only takes a minute to register. Then you’ll be able to save your favourites, submit your own sites and tell everyone else what you think of theirs…

…and it didn’t give me any additional powers. Maybe “coming soon in May”? Your Web, Your Football, Your Music , Your Experience was (so far) simply a list of their suggestions (links). When clicking links, popups of external sites e.g. maxyourteam. I understand minisites but purely external sites? That ain’t aggregation in a useful way.

So, do you know of a social network built in java? It can’t all be java’s fault…