Are your LinkedIn connections viewing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of respondents praising your advice on growing your business? Are headhunters reaching out to discuss collaborations?
If not, the reason might be that you're not male.
The Test: Changing Gender Identity to achieve Increased Reach
Numerous women joined a collective LinkedIn experiment this week after popular discussions indicated that changing their profile gender to "male" boosted their network presence.
Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to include what they termed "bro-coded" terminology - adding results-driven business buzzwords like "propel", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their exposure also improved.
Systemic Preference Questions Raised
The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether a built-in sexism in LinkedIn's algorithm favors men who use online business jargon.
Like most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to determine which content appear to which users - boosting some while suppressing others.
Platform Response
In a recent blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not factor in "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Rather, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" affect how content are received.
Changing gender in your settings does not influence how your content appears in search or feed.
Personal Experiences
Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her profile name to "a masculine version", described extraordinary outcomes.
"The numbers I'm seeing indicate a 1,600% increase in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she commented.
Another professional, a marketing expert, began experimenting after observing her reach decline significantly.
The Method
- Initially, she changed her gender to "man"
- Subsequently, she used AI tools to rephrase her profile using "masculine-oriented" wording
- Finally, she recycled previous content with comparable "agentic" style
The outcome was immediate: a 415% increase in visibility within seven days.
The Negative Aspect
Despite the positive results, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method.
"Previously, my posts were softer - concise and clever, but also friendly and relatable," she explained. "Now, the bro-coded version was forceful and confident - similar to a Caucasian man being overly confident."
She discontinued the test after seven days, stating "Every day I continued, and outcomes improved, I became angrier."
Mixed Results
Some testers experienced positive results. One writer who changed both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" reported a reduction in reach and engagement.
"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it operates in specific cases or the reasons behind it," she commented.
Broader Implications
These experiments coincide with continuing discussions about LinkedIn's distinctive position as both a professional network and social space.
Recent changes in the past few months have apparently resulted in women professionals experiencing significantly reduced exposure, resulting in informal experiments where identical content by men and women received vastly different reach.
System Details
Per LinkedIn, the platform uses artificial intelligence to categorize and spread content based on multiple factors, including what's shared and the member's career profile.
The company claims it regularly evaluates its algorithms, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender."
Company representative suggested that current reductions in certain members' visibility might stem from higher volume due to additional posts on the network.
Changing Landscape
According to a tester noted, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the platform.
"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's turning into increasingly aggressive and less controlled."
