Sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar: Unfolding the transcendence of boundaries across cyber and physical communities

In this paper, we undertake a data-driven exploration of an online community of cigar smokers that we created for the needs of the study, to better understand the practices that combine symbolic and material artifacts to generate collective social value. We employ content analysis and longitudinal social network analysis to afford a nuanced exposition of the structures, dynamics and practices over time. We identify five distinctive types of activities entailing interactions that combine symbolic and material artifacts, generating collective social value. We demonstrate how complex, multi-faceted socio-economic spaces bridge the divide between virtual and embodied space, informational and material objects, and social and economic transactions. Our findings expand the knowledge of online community dynamics, collaborative practices, and value-creation processes. We draw a research agenda for the practices and dynamics at play among users of online communities transcending the boundary between offline and online, generating novel insights to understand digitally-enabled practices