🔗 Share this article

Do your professional networking connections recognizing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of respondents applauding your insights on expanding your venture? Are headhunters reaching out to explore collaborations?

Should that not be the case, the explanation might be that you're not male.

The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender for Increased Reach

Numerous female professionals joined a collective LinkedIn experiment recently after popular discussions indicated that changing their gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility.

Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to include what they called "bro-coded" language - adding action-focused business buzzwords like "drive", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Based on reports, their visibility similarly increased.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up

The improved metrics has led some to speculate whether an inherent gender bias in the platform's system favors men who employ online business jargon.

Similar to many large social media platforms, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to decide which posts are shown to which users - promoting some while suppressing others.

Platform Response

Through a blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not factor in "demographic information" when determining content distribution. Rather, the company explained that "numerous factors" affect how content are received.

Changing gender on your profile does not affect how your posts appears in results or timelines.

Personal Experiences

Simone Bonnett, who changed her pronouns to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", reported remarkable results.

"The statistics I'm seeing indicate a 1,600% increase in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she noted.

Another professional, a marketing expert, began experimenting after noticing her reach decline significantly.

The Method

• First, she modified her gender to "male"
• Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" language
• Lastly, she recycled previous content with comparable "agentic" style

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

The Downside

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

"Before, my content were softer - concise and clever, but also friendly and human," she explained. "Now, the masculine version was assertive and self-assured - similar to a Caucasian man swaggering around."

She discontinued the experiment after seven days, stating "Every day I persisted, and results got better, I became angrier."

Varying Outcomes

Not all participants encountered favorable results. One writer who changed both her profile gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "white" described a reduction in reach and engagement.

"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it operates in specific cases or why," she remarked.

Wider Consequences

These experiments coincide with ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's distinctive position as both a business platform and community site.

Platform modifications in the past few months have reportedly caused female creators experiencing significantly reduced exposure, leading to informal experiments where the same content by men and women received vastly different audience engagement.

System Details

According to LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to categorize and distribute posts based on various elements, including what's shared and the member's career profile.

The company states it regularly evaluates its systems, including "examinations of gender-related disparities."

A spokesperson suggested that recent declines in certain members' visibility might stem from higher volume due to more content on the platform.

Changing Landscape

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

"People often view LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she commented. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."