*Translation and pandemic communication on Instagram

Social media platforms have played key roles in pandemic communication. Similarly, translation has also played key roles in the dissemination of critical public health information to the masses. The plural “roles” is deliberate: platforms and translation have amplified not only vetted experts and science, but misinformation and disinformation as well. Relatedly, different types of social media accounts fulfill different roles, too: from enabling the sharing of opinions or entertainment content (e.g., meme accounts), to providing factual, evidence-based information (e.g., science communication accounts). In this chapter, we examine three different types of *translation (Tymoczko [2010] 2014) exemplified by three different Manitoban social media accounts on Instagram: @icimanitoba (interlingual and cultural translation); @mbpolidragrace (intersemiotic, intercultural, and knowledge translation); @mbcovid19updates (intersemiotic and knowledge translation). Part of the novelty of this case study is that it looks at an understudied Canadian province: Manitoba. As such, the case study contributes to the growing body of scholarship on the pandemic in Canada by providing Manitoban social media data and analyses. This work also has resonance for international audiences, given that memes, data visualizations, and other forms of *translation examined here are used on a global scale; as such, our data could be used for comparative analyses.