🔗 Share this article

Do your LinkedIn followers viewing you as a industry expert? Do numerous respondents applauding your insights on expanding your venture? Do recruiters reaching out to discuss opportunities?

Should that not be the case, the explanation could be your gender.

The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender to achieve Increased Reach

Dozens of women participated in an organized LinkedIn experiment this week after viral posts indicated that changing their profile gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility.

Other testers modified their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "masculine-oriented" language - inserting action-focused business buzzwords like "drive", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their visibility also improved.

Systemic Preference Concerns Brought Up

The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether an inherent gender bias in the platform's system prioritizes male users who employ online business jargon.

Similar to many large networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes an algorithm to determine which content are shown to which members - promoting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but claimed it does not factor in "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Instead, the company explained that "numerous factors" influence how content perform.

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

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", described extraordinary 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 noticing her audience decline substantially.

The Process

• Initially, she modified her gender to "male"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her profile using "masculine-oriented" language
• Lastly, she recycled old posts with similar "agentic" language

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

The Negative Aspect

Although the success, Cornish voiced dissatisfaction with the method.

"Before, my content were softer - concise and insightful, but also friendly and human," she explained. "Currently, the bro-coded version was assertive and self-assured - like a white male swaggering around."

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

Mixed Results

Not all testers experienced favorable results. Cass Cooper who changed both her profile gender to "man" and her race to "Caucasian" described a reduction in visibility and interaction.

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

Broader Implications

These experiments occur alongside ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's unique role as both a professional network and community site.

Recent changes in recent months have apparently caused women professionals experiencing markedly lower exposure, resulting in unofficial tests where the same content by men and women received dramatically unequal audience engagement.

Technical Explanation

Per LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to categorize and spread posts based on various elements, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.

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

A spokesperson suggested that current reductions in some users' reach might originate from higher volume due to additional posts on the network.

Evolving Environment

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

"People often view LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she commented. "This is evolving. It's turning into increasingly aggressive and less controlled."