Whitten-Woodring et al. 13 Feelings about Myanmar and the Role of Facebook in Its Democracy While some respondents said they were hopeful about Myanmar’s future, most said they were also worried about continued communal conflict and what many perceived as deepening divisions between ethnic groups. People were particularly concerned about war between ethnic groups, shortages of food, politics, the economy, and threats from the neighboring Chinese. As one man over seventy years, who was Bamar and Buddhist put it, “I worry about everything—politics, economics, religion. I worried that we will become Chinese slaves very soon. I worry that Buddhism will be swallowed up by Chinese.” A younger Bamar Buddhist man said, “We live in a country where we can die anytime. You can ride a motorbike and get hit by a plane [referring to accident that took place a while ago at Heho airport in Shan state].” A Mon Buddhist woman said she was most concerned about, “basic needs (food, clothes, shelter), for youth’s future in university education because in my village most young people are using drugs and I think government can’t control these problems.” Additionally, many people mentioned that they were concerned about communal conflicts and deepening ethnic divides. According to a man identifying as a religious minority, “people are losing trust in each other, among different ethnic groups. Even among people who support democracy and NLD. We have fragmentations.” While she said she remained hopeful about Myanmar’s future, one Bamar Buddhist woman said, “we really need to take care dealing with ethnic issues, especially the war in Rakhine and also Wa area,14 as other ethnic groups are also waiting and seeing and will consider their response.” In addition to the conflict in Rakhine, people mentioned fears of escalating conflict in Kachin state and tensions with the Chinese. As one man identifying as Myanmar-Indian put it, Myanmar is a “divided society. We are now more divided than before.” When asked if Facebook was good for Myanmar’s future and whether the platform has brought people together or contributed to divisions, most people said that Facebook was good for Myanmar, but some said that it did contribute to divisions. As one Bamar Buddhist man said, “Facebook helps promote humanitarian concerns, democracy, and liberalism. It has united people. We see situations getting out of hand because government mishandled the situation. Extremists’ views are corrected on Facebook by individual users.” Another Myanmar Buddhist man said that the different views expressed on Facebook were beneficial, “I think it is good for the people of Myanmar as we know so many things through Facebook.” While he had some concerns, another Bamar Buddhist man predicted that in the long run, Facebook will have beneficial effects, “Facebook is more helpful if people can use it with good purpose. But, we also see its bad side. But, I think people are getting to know more and more about Facebook. So, I don’t worry that much.” As one Bamar Buddhist man put it, while Facebook “has created divisions between religions and ethnic origins, it has brought together people in Parahita and Karuna [to do good work].” Another Bamar Buddhist man commented, Facebook has both united and divided people, I think people in Myanmar are divided in one case and they unite in another. For instance, you may see how they divide between Red [NLD] and Green [USDP15]. But then they all