🔗 Share this article

Are your professional networking followers viewing you as a industry expert? Do numerous respondents praising your advice on expanding your venture? Do recruiters reaching out to explore collaborations?

If not, the explanation might be your gender.

The Test: Modifying Gender Identity for Better Visibility

Numerous female professionals joined an organized professional network test recently after viral posts indicated that switching their profile gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility.

Other testers rewrote their profiles to incorporate what they called "bro-coded" language - inserting results-driven business buzzwords like "drive", "transform" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their exposure similarly increased.

Systemic Preference Concerns Brought Up

The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether a built-in gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm favors male users who employ online business jargon.

Like many large social media platforms, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to determine which posts are shown to which users - boosting some while reducing others.

Company Statement

In a recent blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but stated it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Rather, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" influence how content perform.

Changing gender on your profile does not affect how your posts appears in search or feed.

Personal Experiences

Simone Bonnett, who modified her pronouns to "he/him" and her name to "Simon E", reported remarkable outcomes.

"The numbers I'm seeing show a 1,600% increase in profile views and a 1,300% increase in impressions," she noted.

Another professional, a communications strategist, began experimenting after noticing her audience decrease substantially.

The Process

• First, she modified her profile gender to "man"
• Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her professional summary using "male-coded" language
• Lastly, she repurposed previous content with comparable "agentic" language

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

The Downside

Despite the positive results, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the approach.

"Before, my content were softer - brief and clever, but also friendly and relatable," she stated. "Now, the masculine version was assertive and self-assured - like a white male swaggering around."

She discontinued the test after one week, stating "Each day I continued, and results got better, I became angrier."

Varying Outcomes

Not all testers experienced favorable outcomes. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her race to "Caucasian" reported a reduction in visibility and engagement.

"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's very challenging to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or why," she commented.

Wider Consequences

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

Recent changes in the past few months have apparently caused women professionals experiencing significantly reduced visibility, leading to unofficial tests where identical posts by male and female users received vastly different reach.

System Details

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

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

A spokesperson proposed that current reductions in certain members' visibility might originate from increased competition due to more content on the platform.

Changing Landscape

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

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