🔗 Share this article

Do your professional networking followers viewing you as a industry expert? Do numerous commenters applauding your advice on expanding your venture? Do recruiters making contact to discuss opportunities?

Should that not be the case, the reason could be that you're not male.

The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity for Better Visibility

Numerous female professionals participated in a collective LinkedIn experiment this week after viral posts suggested that changing their gender to "male" enhanced their network presence.

Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they called "bro-coded" terminology - inserting results-driven business buzzwords like "propel", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased.

Systemic Preference Questions Brought Up

The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether a built-in gender bias in the platform's system favors men who employ professional networking terminology.

Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to determine which content 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 consider "demographic information" when determining post visibility. Rather, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" affect how posts perform.

Changing gender in your settings does not affect how your content shows up in results or timelines.

Individual Results

A social media consultant, who modified her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her profile name to "Simon E", described remarkable outcomes.

"The statistics I'm seeing show a 1,600% increase in visitor traffic and a thirteen-fold jump in impressions," she noted.

Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, started testing after observing her reach decline substantially.

The Method

• First, she modified her gender to "male"
• Then, she used AI tools to rephrase her professional summary using "male-coded" wording
• Lastly, she repurposed old posts with comparable "assertive" style

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

The Downside

Despite the positive results, Cornish voiced dissatisfaction with the method.

"Before, my posts were softer - brief and clever, but also warm and human," she stated. "Currently, the bro-coded version was assertive and self-assured - like a white male swaggering around."

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

Mixed Results

Not all participants encountered positive outcomes. Cass Cooper who changed both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" reported a decrease in visibility and engagement.

"We know there's systemic preference, but it's very challenging to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she commented.

Wider Consequences

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

Platform modifications in recent months have apparently caused women professionals experiencing significantly reduced exposure, resulting in unofficial tests where identical posts by men and women received vastly different reach.

System Details

Per LinkedIn, the platform uses artificial intelligence to categorize and distribute posts based on various elements, including post content and the user's professional identity.

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

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

Changing Landscape

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

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