🔗 Share this article

Are your LinkedIn connections viewing you as a thought leader? Are hordes of commenters praising your insights on expanding your business? Do recruiters making contact to explore collaborations?

If not, the reason might be your gender.

The Test: Modifying Gender Identity for Better Visibility

Dozens of women joined a collective professional network test recently after popular discussions indicated that changing their gender to "man" boosted their platform visibility.

Other testers rewrote their professional summaries to include what they called "bro-coded" language - inserting action-focused professional jargon like "drive", "transform" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their exposure also improved.

Systemic Preference Questions 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 most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to decide which posts appear to which users - boosting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

Through a company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but stated it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Rather, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" affect how content perform.

Modifying profile gender on your profile does not influence how your posts appears in search or feed.

Personal Experiences

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

"The numbers I'm observing show a 1,600% increase in visitor traffic and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she noted.

Another professional, a communications strategist, began experimenting after noticing her audience decline significantly.

The Process

• First, she modified her gender to "man"
• Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her professional summary using "male-coded" wording
• Finally, she recycled old posts with comparable "agentic" language

The outcome was instantaneous: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within seven days.

The Downside

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

"Previously, my content were softer - concise and clever, but also warm and human," she explained. "Currently, the masculine version was assertive and confident - similar to a Caucasian man being overly confident."

She discontinued the experiment after one week, stating "Every day I continued, and outcomes got better, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Some testers encountered positive outcomes. One writer who modified both her gender to "man" and her race to "white" reported a reduction in visibility and engagement.

"We know there's systemic preference, but it's very challenging to understand how it operates in particular situations or why," she commented.

Broader Implications

These tests coincide with continuing discussions about LinkedIn's unique position as both a business platform and community site.

Platform modifications in recent months have reportedly resulted in female creators experiencing markedly lower exposure, leading to unofficial tests where the same content by men and women received dramatically unequal reach.

System Details

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

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

Company representative proposed that recent declines in certain members' visibility might stem from higher volume due to additional posts on the network.

Changing Landscape

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

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's turning into increasingly aggressive and less controlled."