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First of all, if you are trying to use Joomla and it's just too hard, you need to learn more about it. Joomla requires TONS of knowledge about how it works, you're not going to go from "oh hey, what's this Joomla thing?" to setting up full blown social sites in a matter of minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months.
I have been working with Joomla since its inception, and Mambo before that. I can set up sites easily using the platform and quickly, only because much like SEO... Before BHW, web/graphics design was my passion and Joomla my tool of choice... YEARS I've spent.
Next.. WordPress is not a CMS. It's not even close to a CMS and it's not capable of half what a CMS is. It almost is.. You can plug stuff into it and it'll try really hard to look like one, but don't let it fool you. WordPress is a blog... With a very unique and flexible plugin system.
Joomla on the other hand, is a CMS. If you want to manage many types of content, you need a CMS. WordPress is not meant to be a store. It's not meant to manage user accounts (aside from simple 'reading/comment' functions), it's not meant to be a forum or manage any other type of content. Except for POSTS and PAGES. If you can accomplish your task with just those two types (and the majority can) then WordPress is your best bet.
UNLESS, you plan on scaling up anything that would require any type of security. WordPress is a baby.. And much like the Apple/Linux vs Windows for viruses comparison, WordPress is much more susceptible to vulnerability. Joomla is FAR more developed, it's got years and years of solid development for WHAT IT'S MEANT TO BE, a CMS.
You should not run a large store with WordPress. You should not run a large community with WordPress (unless it's the simple read/comment functions only), you should not do many things on a LARGE scale. If you are expecting tens or hundreds of thousands of REGISTERED users.. And they're doing stuff besides just commenting. WordPress will be the biggest mistake ever.
Much like actually using and administrating Joomla.. Optimizing Joomla is also a snap. IF you've done tons and tons of learning. I'll steer you in the right direction and tell you that most of it is actually handled by the menu and is similar to WordPress in this regard. You just need to know what parameters you're looking for. But you can do nearly all of your onpage SEO using the Joomla menu item page. Aside from the actual content of course.
WORDPRESS = If you are looking to set something up NOW. Most IM is best with WP because it doesn't make sense for the time investment required by Joomla. Also, like I said before, most sites can be accomplished with just posts and pages. Portfolio sites, product pages, blogs, company pages, etc. Plus if you are like 99% of people (as in, you have not spent years and years and years learning design, script languages, graphics, etc.) WP is great for non-designers.
JOOMLA = If you want to do something bigger. Build a real community, a real store, a real forum, a real project management site and you expect hundreds of thousands of accounts and visitors.. Of course if you're knowledgeable with Joomla already, you can pretty much use it like most others use WP. It's more stable, more diverse/flexible, more secure, more everything. WP cannot be Joomla because WP is a blog. Joomla can be a blog because Joomla is a CMS.
DRUPAL = You will know when you want to tango with Drupal. Get this whole CMS thing down first.
