🔗 Share this article

Do your LinkedIn connections viewing you as a thought leader? Do numerous respondents praising your advice on growing your venture? Are headhunters making contact to discuss collaborations?

If not, the reason might be that you're not male.

The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity to achieve Better Visibility

Numerous women participated in a collective professional network test recently following popular discussions indicated that changing their gender to "male" boosted their network presence.

Some participants modified their professional summaries to include what they called "bro-coded" language - inserting results-driven professional jargon like "drive", "transform" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their visibility also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Questions Raised

The improved metrics has led some to speculate whether a built-in sexism in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes men who use professional networking terminology.

Similar to many large networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes an algorithm to decide which posts appear to which users - promoting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn recognized the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "demographic information" when deciding content distribution. Instead, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" affect how posts perform.

Changing gender on your profile does not influence how your content shows up in results or timelines.

Personal Experiences

Simone Bonnett, who modified her pronouns to "male pronouns" and her profile name to "Simon E", described remarkable outcomes.

"The statistics I'm observing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in impressions," she commented.

Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, began experimenting after noticing her audience decrease significantly.

The Method

• First, she changed her profile gender to "male"
• Then, she used AI tools to rephrase her profile using "masculine-oriented" wording
• Lastly, she repurposed previous content with comparable "agentic" language

The outcome was immediate: a 415% increase in reach within seven days.

The Downside

Although the positive results, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method.

"Before, my content were more personal - concise and insightful, but also warm and relatable," she stated. "Now, the masculine version was assertive and confident - like a Caucasian man swaggering around."

She discontinued the experiment after one week, saying "Every day I persisted, and outcomes improved, I became more frustrated."

Mixed Results

Not all participants encountered favorable results. Cass Cooper who modified both her gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" reported a reduction in visibility and interaction.

"We understand there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she commented.

Wider Consequences

These tests coincide with ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's unique position as both a business platform and social space.

Platform modifications in recent months have reportedly caused female creators experiencing significantly reduced visibility, leading to unofficial tests where the same content by men and women received dramatically unequal reach.

Technical Explanation

Per LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to categorize and spread posts based on various elements, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.

The company states it regularly evaluates its algorithms, including "checks for inequalities based on gender."

Company representative proposed that current reductions in certain members' visibility might originate from higher volume due to more content on the network.

Changing Landscape

As one participant observed, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the network.

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she commented. "This is evolving. It's turning into increasingly competitive and unpredictable."