Lived Experiences of Filipino Young Adults in Cyberspace Romance and Relationship Grip During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The technological development that we have simplified the things that we do in our daily lives. It gives us convenience and helps us communicate with other people despite distance easily. Due to modernization, most the young adults have a new way of committing to a relationship that is called online dating or cyber romance relationship, it became more trending when the pandemic happened because we have limited access to socialize outside and the only medium we used to communicate is through online. This study aims to describe the experiences of young adults about cyber romance and its impact in valuing their relationship grip. Specifically, this study addresses the following objectives; the perception of young adults engage in cyber romance, the sequence of relationship development in cyberspace romance, the motivation of young adults in engaging to cyber romance, the challenges they faced in having a cyber romance relationship and the strategies they employ to maintain their cyberspace romance relationship. This research utilized qualitative and narrative inquiry as a study method. The researcher conducted a one-on-one interview with the five Filipino young adult participants that participated in this study. The result of this study shows that online dating has grown into a popular trend among young adults, precisely when the pandemic hits the globe. Every young adult has a diverse perception and views about cyber romance. It was also observed that even before the pandemic happened, they were still young adults already committed to using it. It is just like this pandemic is another motivator for some to continue and others to explore this kind of relationship. Associated with this kind of cyber romance relationship, there are some challenges that the participants encountered in their relationship. They employ strategies to maintain and work their relationship in this kind of setup and that is communication. This study shows that Filipino young adults who have had a cyber romance handle relationship more maturely. It positively impacted them and made them better at being in a relationship than they were in their last one.