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Are your professional networking connections viewing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of commenters applauding your insights on expanding your business? Are headhunters reaching out to discuss collaborations?

If not, the explanation might be your gender.

The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender for Increased Reach

Dozens of women participated in a collective LinkedIn experiment recently following viral posts suggested that changing their gender to "male" enhanced their network presence.

Other testers modified their professional summaries to incorporate what they called "bro-coded" terminology - adding results-driven professional jargon like "propel", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their exposure also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up

The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether a built-in sexism in LinkedIn's algorithm favors male users who employ professional networking terminology.

Like most major social media platforms, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to determine which posts are shown to which users - promoting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but stated it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Rather, the company explained that "numerous factors" affect how content are received.

Changing gender in your settings does not affect how your content shows up in results or timelines.

Individual Results

A social media consultant, who changed her pronouns to "he/him" and her name to "Simon E", described extraordinary results.

"The numbers I'm observing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in visitor traffic and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she commented.

Another professional, a marketing expert, started testing after noticing her audience decline substantially.

The Method

• First, she changed her gender to "male"
• Subsequently, she used AI tools to rephrase her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" language
• Lastly, she recycled previous content with similar "agentic" language

The outcome was instantaneous: a 415% increase in visibility within one week.

The Downside

Although the success, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the method.

"Before, my content were more personal - concise and clever, but also friendly and relatable," she explained. "Currently, the masculine version was forceful and self-assured - similar to a Caucasian man swaggering around."

She abandoned the test after seven days, saying "Each day I persisted, and outcomes got better, I became angrier."

Varying Outcomes

Not all participants encountered favorable results. Cass Cooper who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "white" described a reduction in visibility and engagement.

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

Broader Implications

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

Recent changes in the past few months have apparently caused female creators experiencing significantly reduced visibility, leading to unofficial tests where identical posts by men and women received dramatically unequal reach.

System Details

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

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

A spokesperson proposed that current reductions in certain members' visibility might stem from increased competition due to more content on the platform.

Changing Landscape

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

"People often view LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she remarked. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly competitive and unpredictable."