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Do your professional networking followers recognizing you as a industry expert? Do numerous commenters praising your insights on expanding your business? Are headhunters making contact to discuss collaborations?

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

The Experiment: Changing Gender Identity for Better Visibility

Dozens of women participated in a collective professional network test recently following viral posts indicated that switching their profile gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility.

Other testers modified their professional summaries to include what they called "bro-coded" language - inserting action-focused professional jargon like "propel", "transform" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up

The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether an inherent gender bias in the platform's system prioritizes men who use online business jargon.

Similar to many large social media platforms, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to determine which posts appear to which users - promoting some while reducing others.

Company Statement

In a recent blog post, LinkedIn recognized the trend but stated it does not factor in "demographic information" when determining content distribution. Rather, the company explained that "numerous factors" influence how posts are received.

Changing gender on your profile does not influence how your posts shows up in results or timelines.

Individual Results

A social media consultant, who changed her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her profile name to "Simon E", reported extraordinary outcomes.

"The numbers I'm observing indicate a 1,600% increase in profile views and a 1,300% increase in content views," she commented.

Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, began experimenting after noticing her audience decline significantly.

The Method

• Initially, she changed her gender to "male"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her professional summary using "male-coded" wording
• Finally, she recycled old posts with similar "agentic" language

The outcome was instantaneous: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within one week.

The Negative Aspect

Despite the positive results, Cornish voiced dissatisfaction with the method.

"Before, my posts were softer - concise and insightful, but also warm and human," she explained. "Currently, the masculine version was forceful and confident - similar to a white male being overly confident."

She abandoned the test after seven days, stating "Every day I continued, and results got better, I became angrier."

Mixed Results

Some participants encountered favorable results. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" described a reduction in visibility and engagement.

"We understand there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she remarked.

Wider Consequences

These experiments occur alongside ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a business platform and social space.

Platform modifications in recent months have apparently caused female creators experiencing markedly lower exposure, leading to unofficial tests where identical content by men and women received vastly different reach.

System Details

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

The company claims it frequently assesses its algorithms, including "checks for gender-related disparities."

Company representative proposed that recent declines in some users' reach might stem from higher volume due to more content on the network.

Changing Landscape

According to a tester observed, "bro-coding" appears to be increasing on the network.

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she commented. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."