Mobile Myanmar: The Impact of Social Media on Young People Living in Conflict-Affected Regions of Myanmar “It can make us lazy and distance our relationship with families and friends.” Male, 18 years, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) “Some friends give more time to friends on the phone rather than from outside [offline].” Female, 19 years, Kayan Christian, *Loikaw (Kayah State urban) The consensus from rural participants was that Facebook has made life easier for them. They report that social media has been used to cope with difficult emotions, and one participant enjoyed being validated on Facebook through the posts that they make (i.e., getting likes). A comment from an urban participant, however, pointed out that people are now relying on social media for information and therefore not needing to go out, leaving a negative impact on health. “As we can get every information from the phone, we don’t want to go anywhere, and it can affect our health. As we don’t go out, we don’t know what is happening in our surroundings”. Male, 18 years, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) Participants noted that funny posts received more likes compared to educational posts. Friends were said to boast about the number of likes their posts received, making them feel sad when they don’t receive as many. The reactions from friends to their posts (particularly the “haha” emoji, which is often associated with mocking someone) caused anger in some participants, so some changed their more personal posts to the ‘only me’ setting so they weren’t visible to others. “When I posted about my feelings and my friends just gave me ‘haha’ [emoji reaction], I got mad.” Male, 18 years, Loikaw (Kayah State urban) When asked how they felt after using social media, the majority of rural participants reported feeling neutral. Urban participants did not specifically address this question, but one participant noted that they felt out the loop when they weren’t on Facebook, as being on Facebook connected them to their peers and broadened their view of the world. Impact on society When asked about the overall impact of social media on society, there were a range of differing responses between locations. Positive impacts identified by rural participants included the ability for young people to gain information (e.g., health tips) and connect with and make friends in different locations, while negatives focused on being a waste of time and money (for phone credit). “Some health tips that I found out online can give us a good healthier life. Like I had a headache before, and when I [followed] a post of suggesting to drink hot water every morning, I got better.” 18-25 years, Htee Theh Kaloe & Daw Lyar Khu villages (Kayah State rural) "Make new friends and also maintain the friends from outside [of one’s village].” 18-25 years, Htee Theh Kaloe & Daw Lyar Khu villages (Kayah State rural) “There are more negatives. It costs money and wastes time. It can also destroy one’s life. It might be useful for people who work in office, but for farmers like us, it doesn���t have much benefit.” Male, 25 years, Kayan Christian, Kyun Taw village (Kayah State rural) 45