🔗 Share this article

Are your LinkedIn followers viewing you as a thought leader? Are hordes of commenters applauding your insights on expanding your venture? Do recruiters making contact to explore opportunities?

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

The Experiment: Changing Gender Identity to achieve Increased Reach

Dozens of female professionals joined a collective professional network test recently after viral posts suggested that switching their gender to "male" boosted their network presence.

Other testers modified their professional summaries to incorporate what they called "masculine-oriented" language - adding results-driven professional jargon like "propel", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased.

Algorithmic Bias Questions Raised

The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether an inherent sexism in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes men who use online business jargon.

Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to decide which content appear to which users - boosting some while suppressing others.

Company Statement

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not factor in "demographic information" when deciding post visibility. Rather, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" affect how posts perform.

Changing gender in your settings does not influence how your content appears in search or feed.

Individual Results

A social media consultant, who changed her pronouns to "he/him" and her profile name to "a masculine version", described remarkable outcomes.

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

Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, began experimenting after observing her audience decrease significantly.

The Process

• Initially, she changed her gender to "male"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" wording
• Finally, she repurposed old posts with similar "agentic" language

The result was immediate: a more than fourfold rise in reach within one week.

The Negative Aspect

Although the positive results, Cornish expressed unhappiness with the method.

"Before, my content were softer - concise and insightful, but also warm and human," she stated. "Currently, the masculine version was forceful and self-assured - like a white male swaggering around."

She abandoned the test after one week, stating "Every day I continued, and results improved, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Not all participants encountered positive outcomes. Cass Cooper who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "white" described a reduction in visibility and engagement.

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

Wider Consequences

These experiments coincide with continuing conversations 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 significantly reduced visibility, resulting in unofficial tests where the same posts by male and female users received dramatically unequal reach.

System Details

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

The company claims it regularly evaluates its systems, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender."

A spokesperson proposed that recent declines in certain members' visibility might stem from increased competition due to more content on the network.

Evolving Environment

As one participant noted, "bro-coding" appears to be increasing on the platform.

"People often view LinkedIn as more professional and polished," she commented. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly competitive and less controlled."