🔗 Share this article

Do your professional networking connections recognizing you as a thought leader? Do numerous respondents praising your insights on expanding your business? Are headhunters reaching out to explore collaborations?

Should that not be the case, the reason might be your gender.

The Test: Changing Gender Identity for Better Visibility

Dozens of female professionals participated in an organized professional network test recently after popular discussions indicated that switching their gender to "male" enhanced their network presence.

Some participants modified their profiles to include what they termed "bro-coded" language - inserting action-focused professional jargon like "propel", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their visibility similarly increased.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up

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

Like most major social media platforms, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to decide which posts are shown to which members - boosting some while suppressing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "demographic information" when deciding post visibility. Instead, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" affect how posts are received.

Modifying profile gender in your settings does not affect how your content appears in search or feed.

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", described extraordinary outcomes.

"The numbers I'm seeing show a sixteen-fold rise in visitor traffic and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she noted.

Another professional, a communications strategist, started testing after noticing her reach decrease substantially.

The Process

• First, she changed her gender to "male"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" wording
• Lastly, she repurposed previous content with comparable "agentic" style

The outcome was instantaneous: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within one week.

The Downside

Despite the positive results, Cornish expressed unhappiness with the method.

"Previously, my content were softer - concise and clever, but also warm and human," she explained. "Now, the bro-coded version was assertive and self-assured - like a Caucasian man swaggering around."

She abandoned the test after one week, saying "Each day I persisted, and outcomes got better, I became angrier."

Varying Outcomes

Not all participants experienced favorable outcomes. One writer who changed both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" described a decrease in reach and interaction.

"We know there's systemic preference, but it's very challenging to comprehend how it operates in specific cases or the reasons behind it," she remarked.

Broader Implications

These tests coincide with ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a professional network and community site.

Recent changes in the past few months have reportedly resulted in women professionals experiencing significantly reduced visibility, leading to unofficial tests where the same posts by male and female users received vastly different reach.

System Details

Per LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to categorize and distribute posts based on multiple factors, including post content and the user's professional identity.

The company claims it regularly evaluates its systems, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender."

A spokesperson suggested that current reductions in some users' reach might stem from higher volume due to more content on the network.

Changing Landscape

According to a tester noted, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be growing on the platform.

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."