Do your LinkedIn followers recognizing you as a thought leader? Are hordes of respondents praising your insights on growing your venture? Are headhunters reaching out to discuss collaborations?
Should that not be the case, the reason could be your gender.
The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity to achieve Better Visibility
Numerous female professionals joined a collective LinkedIn experiment this week after popular discussions indicated that changing their profile gender to "man" enhanced their network presence.
Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they called "bro-coded" terminology - inserting action-focused business buzzwords like "drive", "transform" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their visibility similarly increased.
Systemic Preference Questions Raised
The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether an inherent gender bias in the platform's system favors men who employ professional networking terminology.
Like most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to decide which content appear to which users - boosting some while suppressing others.
Platform Response
In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but claimed it does not factor in "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Rather, the company explained that "numerous factors" affect how posts perform.
Modifying profile gender on your profile does not affect how your content shows up in results or timelines.
Individual Results
Simone Bonnett, who modified her pronouns to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", reported extraordinary results.
"The numbers I'm seeing show a sixteen-fold rise in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she noted.
Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, began experimenting after observing her reach decline substantially.
The Process
- First, she modified her gender to "male"
- Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her professional summary using "male-coded" wording
- Finally, she repurposed previous content with similar "agentic" style
The result was instantaneous: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within seven days.
The Negative Aspect
Although the positive results, Cornish expressed unhappiness with the method.
"Previously, my posts were more personal - brief and insightful, but also warm and human," she stated. "Now, the masculine version was assertive and confident - similar to a Caucasian man being overly confident."
She abandoned the test after one week, stating "Every day I continued, and results improved, I became more frustrated."
Varying Outcomes
Not all testers experienced favorable outcomes. Cass Cooper who changed both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" reported a reduction in reach and interaction.
"We know there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or why," she commented.
Broader Implications
These tests coincide with ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's unique role as both a business platform and community site.
Recent changes in the past few months have apparently resulted in female creators experiencing markedly lower exposure, leading to unofficial tests where the same content by men and women received dramatically unequal reach.
Technical Explanation
Per LinkedIn, the platform uses AI systems to categorize and spread posts based on multiple factors, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.
The company states it frequently assesses its algorithms, including "checks for inequalities based on gender."
A spokesperson suggested that recent declines in some users' reach might originate from higher volume due to additional posts on the platform.
Evolving Environment
According to a tester noted, "bro-coding" appears to be growing on the network.
"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly competitive and less controlled."
