The role of online communities in increasing social capital and professional self-realization of young entrepreneurs

Abstract

This study addresses the critical research gap in qualitative, context-specific understanding of how online communities build social capital and enable professional self-realization for young entrepreneurs in conflict-affected emerging economies particularly Ukraine. Novel contributions emerge from our thematic analysis of 15 entrepreneurs' lived experiences: (1) Identification of crisis-compressed trust formation through Telegram-based resource reciprocity during blackouts (127 verified instances); (2) Documentation of LinkedIn's dual role in growth networking (78% international mentors) and identity fragmentation; (3) Quantification of skill acceleration (2.8× formal education) alongside rural infrastructure penalties (18% revenue consumed by Starlink). These context-bound mechanisms advance Digital Crisis Capital Theory by revealing war-accelerated platform specialization—a transferable framework for Latin American economies facing institutional voids. Policy imperatives include SBU-verified grant databases and Diia.Business-subsidized Starlink hubs to combat $15,167 average disinformation losses.