🔗 Share this article

Do your professional networking followers viewing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of respondents praising your advice on expanding your business? Do recruiters making contact to discuss opportunities?

Should that not be the case, the explanation could be that you're not male.

The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity to achieve Better Visibility

Dozens of women participated in an organized LinkedIn experiment recently following popular discussions suggested that switching their gender to "man" boosted their platform visibility.

Some participants modified their profiles to include what they termed "masculine-oriented" language - adding results-driven professional jargon like "propel", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased.

Systemic Preference Concerns Brought Up

The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether an inherent sexism in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes male users who use online business jargon.

Like most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to decide which content are shown to which users - promoting some while suppressing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn recognized the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "demographic information" when deciding post visibility. Rather, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" affect how content are received.

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

Personal Experiences

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

"The statistics I'm observing show a 1,600% increase in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she commented.

Another professional, a communications strategist, began experimenting after noticing her reach decline substantially.

The Process

• Initially, she changed her gender to "man"
• Subsequently, she used AI tools to rewrite her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" wording
• Finally, she repurposed old posts with comparable "assertive" language

The result was immediate: a 415% increase in reach within one week.

The Negative Aspect

Despite the success, Cornish voiced dissatisfaction with the method.

"Before, my content were softer - concise and clever, but also friendly and relatable," she explained. "Now, the masculine version was forceful and confident - like a white male being overly confident."

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

Mixed Results

Some testers experienced positive results. One writer who changed both her gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" reported a decrease in visibility and interaction.

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

Wider Consequences

These tests occur alongside ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's unique role as both a business platform and community site.

Platform modifications in the past few months have apparently resulted in female creators experiencing significantly reduced visibility, leading to unofficial tests where the same content by men and women received vastly different reach.

System Details

Per LinkedIn, the platform uses AI systems to categorize and spread posts based on various elements, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.

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

Company representative suggested that current reductions in certain members' visibility might stem from higher volume due to additional posts on the platform.

Changing Landscape

As one participant noted, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the platform.

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she remarked. "That's changing. It's turning into increasingly competitive and less controlled."