🔗 Share this article

Are your professional networking connections viewing you as a thought leader? Are hordes of respondents applauding your insights on growing your venture? Do recruiters reaching out to explore opportunities?

If not, the reason might be your gender.

The Test: Changing Profile Gender to achieve Increased Reach

Dozens of women joined an organized LinkedIn experiment recently following popular discussions indicated that changing their profile gender to "man" boosted their network presence.

Other testers modified their profiles to include what they termed "bro-coded" language - adding results-driven professional jargon like "drive", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Based on reports, their visibility also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up

The improved metrics has led some to speculate whether an inherent gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm favors male users who use online business jargon.

Like many large networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes an algorithm to decide which posts appear to which users - promoting some while suppressing others.

Company Statement

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but stated it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding post visibility. Instead, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" influence how posts perform.

Modifying profile gender in your settings does not influence how your posts shows up in results or timelines.

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who changed her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her profile name to "Simon E", reported extraordinary results.

"The statistics I'm seeing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in visitor traffic and a 1,300% increase in content views," she noted.

Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, began experimenting after observing her audience decline substantially.

The Method

• First, she modified her gender to "male"
• Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" language
• Finally, she recycled old posts with comparable "assertive" style

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

The Negative Aspect

Although the success, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the method.

"Before, my content were more personal - brief and insightful, but also friendly and relatable," she explained. "Now, the bro-coded version was assertive and confident - similar to a white male being overly confident."

She discontinued the test after one week, saying "Each day I persisted, and results improved, I became angrier."

Mixed Results

Some participants encountered favorable outcomes. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" described a decrease in reach and interaction.

"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it operates in specific cases or the reasons behind it," she remarked.

Broader Implications

These experiments occur alongside continuing conversations about LinkedIn's unique position as both a business platform and social space.

Platform modifications in recent months have reportedly resulted in women professionals experiencing markedly lower visibility, resulting in unofficial tests where the same posts by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement.

Technical Explanation

Per LinkedIn, the network uses AI systems to categorize and distribute posts based on various elements, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.

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

A spokesperson suggested that recent declines in some users' reach might stem from higher volume due to additional posts on the network.

Evolving Environment

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

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she commented. "This is evolving. It's turning into increasingly competitive and unpredictable."