Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar While there were positive impacts identified by urban participants (e.g., easy to find up to date news, online shopping), the majority of urban responses suggested that social media has a mostly negative impact on society. A key theme was the negative impact on relationships, with many saying that young people no longer know how to communicate with each other, don’t spend time with one another offline, and when they do they talk about online interactions. “It causes distant relationships among friends. When people fall into Facebook world, they don’t talk to person next to them.” Male, 18-22 years, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “Communication and relationship – before we had a very good community life, and [lots of] chats between family members. But now nobody chats with each other.” 18-21 years, Dee Maw Hso (Kayah State urban) Other negatives of Facebook in particular included making them anxious about political news and being a distraction from completing tasks at hand. “I feel very… scared when I hear political news outside, like KNPP [Karenni National Progressive Party] and Tatmadaw [Myanmar Armed Forces]. I feel anxious.” 18-22 years, Dee Maw Hso (Kayah State urban) “Sometime when we work, we just think about Facebook so we can’t complete our work.” Male, 18-22 years, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) There was a mixed response from rural participants when asked how online behaviours compared to offline behaviours. Some said that they find young people talk a lot more online and are a lot more polite compared to when they are face-to-face, while others said that they do not experience any difference. Regarding their own online identities, one rural participant reported that they can share whatever they want to online, but do not feel the same liberation offline. In contrast, an urban participant reported that that sometimes they posted positive comments despite having negative thoughts on the matter. Rural participants also discussed differences in behaviours between users and non-users. Some said that compared to Facebook users, non-Facebook users will go to sleep earlier than Facebook users, and are happier and not as anxious. Some participants noted that being a social media user has made it easier to communicate with their family, and that their online friends are mainly those they know from their state. An urban participant felt that social media is needed in order to keep up to date because unless you are online, you cannot follow what is being discussed. When asked about the use of social media for advocacy among young people, rural participants said that they and their peers did not use social media for this purpose. However, there were examples of social media being used to seek community support (e.g., blood donations, a Viber group for sharing information between villagers). Only a few urban participants had seen examples of social media being used for advocacy, such as messages about demonstrations and rallies regarding political and environmental issues, and groups promoting ‘peace’. An urban participant noted that they personally don’t use social media to campaign and advocate on issues and note that even the government does not lead initiatives to address the issues that are happening on Facebook. While there were few examples of Facebook being used to raise awareness and help locals support one another, most agreed that if young people were taught how to understand and use Facebook more effectively, it could be used to positively change lives. Rural participants suggested that conducting training in the villages or allowing villagers to educate others about using social media would be useful. Urban participants made some suggestions for using social media to increase empathy and understanding in society, such as sharing information about other places and people (e.g., risks of natural disasters), and pictures and posts from people who have emigrated from Myanmar to other countries (e.g., celebrating ethnic festivals and cultural practices). 46