🔗 Share this article

Are your professional networking connections recognizing you as a industry expert? Do numerous respondents praising your advice on growing your business? Are headhunters making contact to discuss collaborations?

If not, the reason might be your gender.

The Test: Changing Gender Identity for Better Visibility

Dozens of female professionals participated in an organized LinkedIn experiment this week after viral posts suggested that switching their profile gender to "male" enhanced their platform visibility.

Some participants modified their profiles to incorporate what they termed "masculine-oriented" terminology - adding action-focused professional jargon like "drive", "transform" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their exposure also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Questions Raised

The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether a built-in gender bias in the platform's system favors male users who employ online business jargon.

Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to decide which posts appear to which members - promoting some while suppressing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn recognized the trend but claimed it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Instead, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" affect how posts perform.

Changing gender in your settings does not influence how your posts shows up in search or feed.

Personal Experiences

Simone Bonnett, who changed her pronouns to "he/him" and her profile name to "Simon E", reported remarkable outcomes.

"The numbers I'm observing show a sixteen-fold rise in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in impressions," she noted.

Another professional, a communications strategist, started testing after noticing her audience decline substantially.

The Method

• Initially, she changed her profile gender to "male"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her profile using "masculine-oriented" wording
• Lastly, she repurposed old posts with similar "agentic" style

The outcome was instantaneous: a 415% increase in visibility within one week.

The Downside

Although the positive results, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the approach.

"Previously, my content were softer - concise and clever, but also warm and human," she stated. "Currently, the bro-coded version was forceful and confident - like a white male being overly confident."

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

Varying Outcomes

Not all testers experienced positive outcomes. One writer who changed both her gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "white" reported a reduction in reach and interaction.

"We understand there's systemic preference, but it's very challenging to understand how it operates in specific cases or why," she remarked.

Wider Consequences

These tests occur alongside ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's distinctive position as both a professional network and social space.

Platform modifications in recent months have reportedly caused women professionals experiencing significantly reduced exposure, leading to unofficial tests where identical content by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement.

Technical Explanation

According to LinkedIn, the network uses AI systems to classify and distribute posts based on multiple factors, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.

The company claims it frequently assesses its algorithms, including "checks for inequalities based on gender."

Company representative proposed that current reductions in some users' reach might originate from higher volume due to more content on the network.

Evolving Environment

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

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she remarked. "That's changing. It's turning into increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."