A trajetória esportiva e a visibilidade digital das atletas da seleção brasileira de handebol feminino: a relação entre carreira e a presença nas redes sociais

Abstract

The presence of women in sports, although growing over the last few decades, still faces significant obstacles related to gender inequality, visibility, and professional recognition. In this scenario, social networks emerge as powerful spaces for image building, career projection, and engagement with the public, especially in sports with low media coverage, such as women's handball. In this context, understanding how the sports careers of the athletes of the Brazilian handball team relate to their digital visibility is essential to rethink strategies for promoting women's sports in Brazil. Thus, this study aimed to analyze how the careers and sports careers of these athletes influence their presence on social networks, especially on Instagram, and how this visibility impacts their professional opportunities, the recognition of handball, and the promotion of gender equality in sports. The research adopts a qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews supported by the Timeline methodological resource, in addition to the analysis of Google Trends data to assess public interest in the sport. The results indicate that, although social media allows athletes greater autonomy in constructing their image, visibility is still occasional, unstable and dependent on major events. Furthermore, digital recognition is not distributed equally among players, being conditioned by factors such as sports performance, institutional support, charisma and mastery of communication tools. The analysis also highlighted the impact of variables such as gender, motherhood, body and leadership, which permeate the athletes' experience and directly influence their permanence and appreciation in the sports scene. This study contributes to the debate on gender inequality in sports and reinforces the importance of public policies and communication strategies that promote equity, visibility and protagonism of female athletes.