🔗 Share this article

Do your LinkedIn connections recognizing you as a industry expert? Do numerous respondents praising your insights on growing your venture? Are headhunters making contact to discuss opportunities?

Should that not be the case, the reason might be your gender.

The Experiment: Changing Gender Identity to achieve Better Visibility

Numerous women participated in a collective LinkedIn experiment this week following popular discussions suggested that switching their profile gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility.

Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to include what they called "masculine-oriented" terminology - inserting results-driven business buzzwords like "propel", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their visibility also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up

The improved metrics has led some to speculate whether an inherent gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm favors men who employ online business jargon.

Like many large social media platforms, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to decide which content are shown to which users - boosting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not consider "personal characteristics" when determining content distribution. Rather, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" affect how content are received.

Changing gender in your settings does not influence how your content shows up in search or feed.

Individual Results

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

"The statistics I'm seeing show a 1,600% increase in profile views and a 1,300% increase in content views," she noted.

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

The Method

• First, she changed her gender to "man"
• Then, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her profile using "male-coded" language
• Lastly, she recycled old posts with comparable "assertive" language

The result was instantaneous: a 415% increase in visibility within seven days.

The Downside

Despite the success, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method.

"Previously, my content were softer - brief and insightful, but also warm and human," she stated. "Now, the bro-coded version was forceful and self-assured - like a Caucasian man being overly confident."

She abandoned the experiment after one week, stating "Every day I continued, and results got better, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Some testers encountered favorable results. One writer who modified both her gender to "male" and her race to "Caucasian" described a decrease in visibility and engagement.

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

Wider Consequences

These experiments occur alongside ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's unique position as both a business platform and social space.

Recent changes in the past few months have reportedly resulted in female creators experiencing significantly reduced exposure, leading to unofficial tests where the same posts by male and female users received dramatically unequal reach.

System Details

According to LinkedIn, the network uses AI systems to categorize and distribute posts based on various elements, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.

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

A spokesperson proposed that recent declines in some users' reach might originate from higher volume due to additional posts on the network.

Changing Landscape

According to a tester observed, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be growing on the platform.

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she commented. "That's changing. It's turning into increasingly aggressive and less controlled."