Tactical risk memes operated outside institutions like the World Health Organization (WHO) and CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) to tactically sharing important risk and crisis communication. They made us laugh but also gave us instructions for how to stay safe during a global pandemic. This article examines tactical risk memes and provides implications for future public health crises, arguing for the importance and relevance of memes as a form of technical communication.

In a Spring 2020 Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) course on risk communication, we watched the COVID-19 pandemic unfold and discussed how technical communicators can foreground vulnerable and marginalized populations who are often excluded from official communication channels. The article below offers perspectives on tactical communication and/or coalition building during a pandemic, coining the term tactical risk communication (TRC) and examining how TRC functions in the face of a global health crisis.