ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an introductory overview of research on translation and online social media, which began to coalesce in the latter 2000s and early 2010s. Key definitions related to online social media, online social translation, and alternative media are provided, contrasted, and supplemented. Consideration is given as to how online social media function along a spectrum of alternativeness to traditional media. The chapter also discusses the affordances, specificities, and materialities of translation in online and digital contexts. To further illustrate some of the theoretical considerations, the chapter then focuses on two main areas related to the online social media–online social translation–alternative media nexus: (1) social platform translation as a gate-keeping mechanism with Facebook as a primary example and (2) online social translation, online social activism, and language resurgence, which explores different aspects of the Idle No More movement online ‘ecosystem’. The chapter also proposes future research avenues – such as hashtag translation and networked translation – as well novel methodologies and tools (e.g. network analysers) for translation studies that take inspiration from social media studies.
