ASIAN ETHNICITY 9 slightly different from regular Latin letters, but this does not seem to be a problem for Kachin speakers. Lisu written scripts, on the other hand, are based on irregular or upsidedown Latin alphabets, and therefore are not easily adaptable to existing digital use. While a new application for a Lisu keyboard has recently been created, it is not easily available to Lisu speakers. Thus, according to a Lisu respondent, Lisu people mainly use Burmese when they post on Facebook and text on Messenger.54 Like Chin people, there are many sub-dialects within Naga that are mutually unin­ telligible. Nagamese, which was invented in the late 1980s and is more popular among Naga tribes in India, is a creative mix of languages drawing from different Naga tribes and the Assamese language.55 Nagamese uses the Latin alphabet for writing. Despite efforts by Naga literature and cultural organizations to spread Nagamese across Naga areas in Myanmar, it has not been widely used. A Naga man in his 30s, for instance, said that ‘Nagamese seems easy to use in writing, but it is still not easy to adapt or learn by Naga people in Myanmar’. Another Naga respondent, a woman in her 30s, agreed: ‘We mostly use Burmese, which is more convenient for us, and understood by Naga people across different tribes. When we need to talk with some relatives in remote Naga hills who do not speak Burmese, we only can talk through phone and [Facebook] Messenger.’ The second group of ethnic minorities who communicate on Facebook are those that share some similar linguistic affinity with Burmese, and are very similar to Standard Burmese. All three varieties use one ‘script’ (which is made up of ‘letters’ or ‘characters’), though the meaning of some words and pronunciations are different when they speak in their local or native dialects. Danu respondents state that they use Burmese most of the time, either for posting on Facebook or for texting in Facebook Messenger. Rakhine respondents noted that they and their friends on Facebook use both Burmese and Rakhine. Both respondents, a 33-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, said they prefer using Burmese dialect when they post on Facebook, but they tend to use Rakhine dialects when they text on Messenger with their Rakhine friends and relatives. A male Rakhine respondent reveals that he has been using two Facebook accounts, one using Burmese dialect to write or share posts for social networking with anyone from different ethnic backgrounds, and the other using Rakhine dialect for his Rakhine friends and relatives. However, he admits that he is more active with the first account. He also noted that due to ongoing armed conflict in Rakhine state between the government armed forces, and the Arakan Army (AA), a Rakhine-based non-state armed group, ‘the Rakhine people are now using Rakhine language [writing in Rakhine dialects] more often when they write and share posts on the Facebook.’ They would however use Burmese dialect if the post is about atrocities committed against Rakhine communities by govern­ ment forces and they want the attention from foreign and domestic media. The third group of ethnic minorities include Mon, Shan, Karen, Kayah, Pa-O and Taang (Palaung)56 communities who have their own scripts that are somewhat similar to Burmese or Thai scripts. However, there are sub-dialects within the Karen, Kayah and Shan communities so Burmese is also used to communicate across sub-groups within each group. Some sub-groups within Karen, such as Geba and Geko, still use Latin script, while other sub-groups, including the dominant S’gaw and Pwo groups, have used their own non-Latin scripts which are slightly similar to Burmese scripts but were modified by American Christian missionaries in the colonial period. A majority of the population