Professional Network Visibility Boost: Women Find Better Results By Presenting to be Male Users
Are your professional networking connections viewing you as a thought leader? Do numerous respondents praising your insights on expanding your business? Are headhunters reaching out to explore opportunities?
Should that not be the case, the explanation could be your gender.
The Test: Changing Profile Gender to achieve Better Visibility
Numerous women joined a collective professional network test this week following popular discussions suggested that changing their profile gender to "male" enhanced their network presence.
Other testers modified their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "bro-coded" language - inserting action-focused business buzzwords like "drive", "transform" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their visibility also improved.
Algorithmic Bias Questions Brought Up
The improved metrics has led some to speculate whether an inherent sexism in the platform's system prioritizes men who employ online business jargon.
Like most major social media platforms, LinkedIn utilizes an algorithm to determine which content are shown to which users - boosting some while suppressing others.
Company Statement
Through a company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "demographic information" when determining post visibility. Instead, the company mentioned that "numerous factors" affect how posts perform.
Changing gender in your settings does not affect how your posts shows up in results or timelines.
Personal Experiences
A social media consultant, who modified her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her name to "Simon E", reported remarkable results.
"The numbers I'm observing show a 1,600% increase in profile views and a 1,300% increase in impressions," she noted.
Another professional, a communications strategist, began experimenting after noticing her reach decline significantly.
The Process
- Initially, she modified her profile gender to "male"
- Then, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her profile using "male-coded" language
- Lastly, she recycled old posts with similar "agentic" style
The result was instantaneous: a 415% increase in visibility within one week.
The Downside
Despite the positive results, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the method.
"Previously, my posts were softer - brief and clever, but also warm and human," she explained. "Currently, the masculine version was assertive and self-assured - similar to a white male swaggering around."
She discontinued the test after one week, stating "Every day I continued, and results got better, I became more frustrated."
Mixed Results
Not all testers encountered favorable outcomes. One writer who changed both her gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" described a decrease in visibility and engagement.
"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's very challenging to comprehend how it functions in specific cases or why," she remarked.
Broader Implications
These tests occur alongside continuing discussions about LinkedIn's unique position as both a professional network and community site.
Recent changes in the past few months have apparently caused women professionals experiencing significantly reduced exposure, leading to informal experiments where the same content by male and female users received dramatically unequal reach.
Technical Explanation
Per LinkedIn, the platform uses AI systems to classify and spread content based on various elements, including post content and the member's career profile.
The company claims it frequently assesses its algorithms, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender."
Company representative proposed that recent declines in certain members' visibility might originate from increased competition due to more content on the platform.
Changing Landscape
As one participant observed, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the platform.
"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and less controlled."
