🔗 Share this article

Are your professional networking connections recognizing you as a thought leader? Are hordes of commenters praising your advice on expanding your business? Do recruiters reaching out to explore opportunities?

Should that not be the case, the reason might be your gender.

The Test: Modifying Gender Identity to achieve Better Visibility

Numerous female professionals joined a collective LinkedIn experiment this week following popular discussions indicated that changing their profile gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility.

Other testers modified their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "bro-coded" language - adding action-focused business buzzwords like "drive", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their exposure also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Questions Raised

The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether a built-in sexism in the platform's system prioritizes male users who employ professional networking terminology.

Similar to many large networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to determine which content appear to which users - boosting some while reducing others.

Company Statement

Through a blog post, LinkedIn recognized the phenomenon but claimed it does not factor in "personal characteristics" when determining post visibility. Rather, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" affect how posts perform.

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

Individual Results

A social media consultant, who changed her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her profile name to "a masculine version", described remarkable outcomes.

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

Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, started testing after observing her audience decrease substantially.

The Method

• First, she changed her gender to "male"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" language
• Lastly, she repurposed previous content with similar "assertive" style

The result was immediate: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within seven days.

The Negative Aspect

Although the success, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method.

"Previously, my content were more personal - concise and clever, but also warm and relatable," she stated. "Now, the masculine version was forceful and self-assured - similar to a white male swaggering around."

She abandoned the test after seven days, stating "Every day I persisted, and results got better, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Not all participants encountered favorable results. Cass Cooper who changed both her profile gender to "man" and her race to "white" reported a decrease in reach and interaction.

"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it functions in specific cases or why," she remarked.

Broader Implications

These experiments coincide with ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's unique role as both a professional network and social space.

Platform modifications in recent months have apparently caused female creators experiencing significantly reduced visibility, resulting in unofficial tests where the same posts by male and female users received dramatically unequal audience engagement.

System Details

According to LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to classify and distribute content based on various elements, including post content and the user's professional identity.

The company states it regularly evaluates its systems, including "checks for gender-related disparities."

Company representative suggested that current reductions in some users' reach might stem from increased competition due to more content on the platform.

Evolving Environment

As one participant observed, "bro-coding" appears to be growing on the platform.

"People often view LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she commented. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."