🔗 Share this article Professional Network Engagement Boost: Female Professionals Discover Better Results When Pretending to be Male Users Are your professional networking followers viewing you as a industry expert? Do numerous commenters applauding your insights on growing your business? Are headhunters reaching out to discuss collaborations? If not, the explanation might be that you're not male. The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity for Better Visibility Numerous women joined a collective LinkedIn experiment this week after popular discussions indicated that switching their profile gender to "male" boosted their network presence. Other testers rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "bro-coded" language - inserting results-driven professional jargon like "drive", "transform" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased. Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether an inherent sexism in the platform's system prioritizes men who employ online business jargon. Similar to many large social media platforms, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to determine which content appear to which users - promoting some while reducing others. Platform Response In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but claimed it does not factor in "demographic information" when determining content distribution. Instead, the company explained that "numerous factors" affect how posts perform. Changing gender on your profile does not affect how your posts appears in results or timelines. Personal Experiences Simone Bonnett, who modified her pronouns to "he/him" and her profile name to "a masculine version", described remarkable results. "The statistics I'm observing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in profile views and a 1,300% increase in impressions," she commented. Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, started testing after observing her reach decrease significantly. The Process Initially, she changed her profile gender to "male" Then, she used AI tools to rewrite her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" wording Finally, she recycled previous content with comparable "assertive" language The outcome was immediate: a more than fourfold rise in reach within seven days. The Negative Aspect Despite the positive results, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the approach. "Before, my posts were more personal - concise and insightful, but also warm and human," she stated. "Currently, the bro-coded version was forceful and confident - similar to a white male being overly confident." She discontinued the experiment after seven days, saying "Each day I continued, and outcomes got better, I became angrier." Mixed Results Not all testers encountered positive outcomes. Cass Cooper who changed both her gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "white" reported a decrease in reach 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 commented. Wider Consequences These tests coincide with ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a professional network and social space. Platform modifications in recent months have reportedly caused female creators experiencing significantly reduced exposure, leading to informal experiments where the same content by men and women received vastly different reach. System Details Per LinkedIn, the platform uses AI systems to categorize and distribute content based on various elements, including post content and the member's career profile. The company states it regularly evaluates its systems, including "checks for inequalities based on gender." Company representative suggested that recent declines in some users' reach might stem from increased competition due to more content on the platform. Evolving Environment As one participant 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 turning into increasingly competitive and less controlled."