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Are your professional networking followers viewing you as a thought leader? Do numerous respondents praising your insights on growing your business? Do recruiters making contact to explore collaborations?

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

The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity to achieve Better Visibility

Dozens of female professionals participated in a collective LinkedIn experiment this week following viral posts indicated that switching their profile gender to "male" enhanced their network presence.

Some participants modified their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "bro-coded" terminology - inserting results-driven professional jargon like "drive", "transform" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their visibility also improved.

Systemic Preference Concerns Raised

The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether a built-in sexism in the platform's system prioritizes men who use online business jargon.

Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to determine which posts are shown to which members - boosting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn recognized the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "personal characteristics" when determining post visibility. Rather, the company explained that "numerous factors" influence how content are received.

Changing gender on your profile does not affect how your posts appears in search or feed.

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who changed her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her profile name to "Simon E", reported extraordinary outcomes.

"The statistics I'm observing show a sixteen-fold rise in profile views and a 1,300% increase in content views," she noted.

Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, began experimenting after noticing her audience decline significantly.

The Method

• First, she changed her gender to "man"
• Subsequently, she used AI tools to rewrite her professional summary using "male-coded" wording
• Finally, she recycled old posts with comparable "agentic" style

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

The Negative Aspect

Despite the success, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method.

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

She discontinued the test after seven days, stating "Every day I persisted, and outcomes improved, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Not all testers experienced positive outcomes. Cass Cooper who changed both her gender to "man" and her race to "Caucasian" reported a decrease in reach and interaction.

"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's very challenging to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she commented.

Wider Consequences

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

Platform modifications in recent months have apparently caused women professionals experiencing significantly reduced visibility, resulting in informal experiments where the same content by male and female users received dramatically unequal audience engagement.

System Details

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

The company claims it regularly evaluates its systems, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender."

A spokesperson proposed that current reductions in some users' reach might originate from increased competition due to additional posts on the platform.

Changing Landscape

As one participant noted, "bro-coding" appears to be increasing on the network.

"People often view LinkedIn as more professional and polished," she remarked. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly competitive and less controlled."