Leadership in Online Communities that Operate Offline Activities

This study explored the leadership experiences of people that manage online communities with an offline component. This was a qualitative study that involved semi-structured interviews on eleven participants who considered themselves more engaged in their communities than the average member. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to examine participants' lived experiences and explore their perceptions. IPA was chosen due to its focus on individuals making sense of their experiences (Smith et al., 2022). Four group experiential themes and ten subordinate themes came to light during the analysis which included “The keepers of the flame”. All participants expressed how they had a strong feeling of needing to keep the community alive and this motivated them to take on a leadership role in their community. “In it for the friendship” showcased the social and hobbyist heart of online/offline communities. “Cannot fix your parent’s marriage”demonstrates where boundaries of responsibility had to be drawn, where participants had to come to terms with being unable to solve all problems members presented them with. Lastly the theme “Working Between Online and Offline” considered the unique interactions participants had to navigate where online and offline elements of the community intertwined and differed. This study provides insight into how leaders in online/offline communities perceive their experiences and allows venues and platform owners a greater knowledge of how to work with such communities.