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Do your LinkedIn followers recognizing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of commenters praising your insights on expanding your business? Are headhunters making contact to discuss opportunities?

If not, the reason could be that you're not male.

The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender for Better Visibility

Dozens of women joined a collective LinkedIn experiment recently following popular discussions indicated that switching their profile gender to "man" boosted their platform visibility.

Other testers modified their professional summaries to include what they termed "bro-coded" language - inserting results-driven professional jargon like "propel", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Raised

The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether a built-in sexism in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes men who employ professional networking terminology.

Similar to many large social media platforms, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to determine which posts appear to which users - promoting some while suppressing others.

Company Statement

Through a blog post, LinkedIn recognized the trend but claimed it does not consider "demographic information" when deciding content distribution. Rather, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" affect how content perform.

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

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who modified her pronouns to "male pronouns" and her name to "a masculine version", reported extraordinary results.

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

Another professional, a communications strategist, started testing after noticing her reach decline substantially.

The Process

• Initially, she modified her profile gender to "man"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her profile using "male-coded" wording
• Lastly, she repurposed previous content with comparable "agentic" style

The result was immediate: a more than fourfold rise in reach within one week.

The Downside

Although the positive results, Cornish expressed unhappiness with the approach.

"Previously, my posts were more personal - brief and clever, but also warm and relatable," she explained. "Now, the bro-coded version was assertive and confident - like a Caucasian man swaggering around."

She discontinued the test after seven days, stating "Each day I continued, and results improved, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Not all testers experienced positive outcomes. Cass Cooper who changed both her profile gender to "man" and her race to "white" described a reduction in reach and engagement.

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

Wider Consequences

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

Platform modifications in recent months have reportedly resulted in women professionals experiencing markedly lower visibility, leading to informal experiments where identical content by men and women received dramatically unequal reach.

System Details

Per LinkedIn, the network uses AI systems to categorize and spread posts based on multiple factors, including post content and the user's professional identity.

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

A spokesperson proposed that current reductions in certain members' visibility might stem from higher volume due to more content on the network.

Changing Landscape

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

"People often view LinkedIn as more professional and polished," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's turning into increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."