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Do your professional networking followers viewing you as a thought leader? Are hordes of commenters praising your insights on expanding your venture? Do recruiters making contact to explore opportunities?

If not, the explanation could be your gender.

The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender to achieve Better Visibility

Dozens of women participated in an organized LinkedIn experiment this week following popular discussions suggested that switching their profile gender to "male" enhanced their network presence.

Other testers rewrote their professional summaries to include what they called "masculine-oriented" terminology - adding results-driven business buzzwords like "propel", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased.

Algorithmic Bias Questions Brought Up

The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether an inherent sexism in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes male users who use professional networking terminology.

Similar to most major social media platforms, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to decide which posts are shown to which members - boosting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but claimed it does not factor in "demographic information" when deciding post visibility. Rather, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" influence how posts are received.

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

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her name to "a masculine version", reported remarkable outcomes.

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

Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, began experimenting after observing her audience decrease substantially.

The Process

• Initially, she modified her gender to "male"
• Subsequently, she used AI tools to rephrase her profile using "masculine-oriented" wording
• Lastly, she repurposed previous content with comparable "agentic" language

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

The Negative Aspect

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

"Previously, my posts were softer - brief and insightful, but also warm and human," she stated. "Now, the masculine version was assertive and self-assured - similar to a white male swaggering around."

She abandoned the test after one week, stating "Every day I persisted, and outcomes got better, I became angrier."

Varying Outcomes

Some testers experienced positive results. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" reported a reduction in reach and engagement.

"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's very challenging to understand how it functions in specific cases or why," she commented.

Wider Consequences

These tests occur alongside ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's unique role as both a professional network and social space.

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

Technical Explanation

According to LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to classify 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 inequalities based on gender."

Company representative suggested that current reductions in some users' reach might originate from increased competition due to more content on the network.

Evolving Environment

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

"People often view LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she commented. "That's changing. It's turning into increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."