How Filipino College Students Used Social Media to Perform "Adulting" During COVID-19

 

Article information

Cleofas, J. V., Albao, B. T., & Dayrit, J. C. S. (2022). Emerging adulthood uses and gratifications of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed methods study among Filipino college students. Emerging Adulthood, 10(6), 1602–1616. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968221128621

What this study is about

This paper asks a very human question: when life moved online during COVID-19, what did social media do for young people who were in the middle of “becoming adults”?

The researchers focused on emerging adulthood—roughly ages 18–29—because this stage is often shaped by three major developmental tasks: autonomy (learning to steer your life), intimacy (forming and keeping close relationships), and identity (figuring out who you are and where you’re going). 

They also used Uses and Gratifications theory, which basically says: people choose media for reasons—they use it to meet needs (information, connection, entertainment, self-expression, etc.). Here, the key idea is: social media may help young adults meet autonomy, intimacy, and identity needs, especially during a crisis that disrupted normal life.

What the researchers did

The study used an exploratory mixed methods design: it first examined people’s written responses (qualitative), then tested patterns statistically (quantitative). 

• Who participated? 1003 Filipino college students, ages 18–29. 
• How were they recruited? Online through social media posts (including boosted Facebook posts/ads). 
• What did they answer? An open-ended survey question about the role of social media in their life as an emerging adult college student during the pandemic. 
• How were responses analyzed? The team used a deductive content analysis, sorting answers under autonomy, intimacy, and identity, then identifying more specific sub-themes within each. They also checked agreement between coders (inter-coder reliability). 
• What did the numbers test? They looked at whether the presence/absence of each developmental theme in a response was associated with demographics and platform use (chi-square tests and crude odds ratios).

What they found: social media as a “development tool”

From students’ narratives, seven subcategories emerged under the three tasks. 

1) Autonomy: “I choose what I consume—and I do adult stuff online”

Two key ways students used social media to support autonomy were:

• Practicing informational control
  Many students described social media as their “window to the world” during lockdown—especially for news and COVID updates—while also emphasizing the need to filter misinformation, avoid harmful content, and think critically about what they see. In plain terms: autonomy looked like learning to manage your attention and judgment online.
• Performing adulthood-related tasks
  A smaller but notable group used social media for adult responsibilities: earning money (online work, commissions, small businesses), searching for opportunities, doing transactions, and even community engagement. In plain terms: social media became part of practicing adulthood, not just passing time.

Platform difference: TikTok users were less likely to show autonomy-related use in their responses (odds ratio < 1), which the authors interpret cautiously in light of how engaging/addictive micro-video formats can be.

2) Intimacy: “Online was the only way to stay close”

Students frequently framed social media as the “only bridge” available during quarantine:

• Maintaining relationships with peers
  They used messaging, group chats, and online interactions to keep friendships alive, coordinate schoolwork with classmates, and reduce loneliness. 
• Maintaining relationships with family
  Many used social media to connect with relatives far away (including overseas), check on family members’ status, and receive emotional support—an especially salient theme in a Filipino context where family ties remain central well into emerging adulthood. 

Social inequality angle: Students from low-income households were more likely to report using social media for intimacy than those from middle/high-income households—suggesting that when travel and in-person contact became harder and more expensive, online connection became a more necessary lifeline.

Platform/ecosystem angle: Instagram users were less likely to report intimacy-related use, while students active on four or more platforms were more likely to report intimacy-related use—possibly reflecting “polymedia” reality (different people are reachable on different apps).

3) Identity: “School + self-expression + coping through culture”

Two major identity pathways stood out:

• Educational engagement
  Students used social media to keep up with school announcements, coordinate group work, communicate with classmates/teachers, and access learning-related information—especially important in a setting where online learning systems were uneven and social media filled practical gaps. 
• Entertainment and expression
  Students also used social media for memes, music fandoms, art, hobbies, inspiration, and voicing sociopolitical opinions—helping them cope, explore interests, and shape a sense of self during a highly restricted period. 

Who reported identity-related use more? Female students had higher odds of identity-related use than males, and students from low-income households also had higher odds—highlighting how identity work online may be patterned by gender and material conditions during crises.

Strengths and limitations (what to keep in mind)

A major strength is the large sample and the mixed methods design that combines lived narratives with statistical patterning. 

But the study also has important limits: convenience sampling, slight overrepresentation of females and low-income students, reliance on a single open-ended survey response (not interviews), non-adjusted quantitative tests, focus on college students only, and no comparison group from other age stages. 

Bottom line

This paper reframes social media during COVID-19 as more than “screen time.” For many Filipino college students, it became a developmental infrastructure—a tool for growing autonomy, protecting intimacy, and negotiating identity when normal pathways to adulthood were disrupted.

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Policy/practice recommendations

1. Universities should treat social media as a learning infrastructure during crises—not ideal, but real—and integrate clear guidance for academic coordination, announcements, and student support where LMS access is uneven. 
2. Strengthen media and information literacy (misinformation detection, mindful consumption, mental health–protective use), because “informational control” emerged as a key autonomy skill. 
3. Design low-cost connection supports for students (especially those with fewer resources) since low-income students relied more on social media for intimacy and identity.
4. Platform-sensitive student wellbeing initiatives: pay attention to highly engaging micro-video environments and “polymedia” realities—students may need different supports depending on their app ecosystem.

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Glossary of key terms

• Emerging adulthood — A developmental stage (about 18–29) often marked by exploration and transition, with key tasks around autonomy, intimacy, and identity. 
• Autonomy (developmental task) — Learning to make independent decisions and exercise agency (here, including control over what information/content you consume). 
• Intimacy (developmental task) — Building and sustaining close relationships with peers, family, and significant others. 
• Identity (developmental task) — Exploring and developing a sense of self (education, interests, values, expression, future direction). 
• Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory — A media theory proposing that people choose media to satisfy specific social/psychological needs. 
• Mixed methods — A design that combines qualitative (meaning-focused) and quantitative (pattern-testing) approaches in one study. 
• Deductive content analysis — Analyzing text responses using a pre-set framework (here: autonomy, intimacy, identity), then identifying subthemes. 
• Inter-coder reliability (ICR) — A check on how consistently different coders categorize qualitative data. 
• Odds ratio (OR) — A statistic indicating how much more/less likely an outcome is in one group vs another (e.g., TikTok users vs non-users). 
• Polymedia / multi-platform use — Using several platforms to manage different relationships and functions; in this study, 4+ platforms related to intimacy use. 
• Infodemic / misinformation — A flood of misleading information; students described needing to filter and verify content.