🔗 Share this article LinkedIn Engagement Surge: Women Discover Better Results When Presenting to be Men Are your professional networking followers recognizing you as a industry expert? Do numerous commenters applauding your insights on growing your business? Do recruiters making contact to explore collaborations? Should that not be the case, the explanation could be your gender. The Experiment: Changing Gender Identity for Increased Reach Numerous female professionals joined a collective professional network test recently after popular discussions suggested that changing their profile gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility. Some participants modified their professional summaries to include what they called "masculine-oriented" terminology - inserting action-focused business buzzwords like "propel", "transform" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their exposure similarly increased. Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether an inherent gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes men who use online business jargon. Similar to many large social media platforms, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to determine which posts are shown to which members - boosting some while suppressing others. Company Statement In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but claimed it does not factor in "demographic information" when determining post visibility. Instead, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" influence how posts perform. Changing gender in your settings does not affect how your posts shows up in results or timelines. Individual Results A social media consultant, who changed her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", reported remarkable results. "The statistics I'm seeing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she commented. Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, began experimenting after noticing her audience decline significantly. The Process First, she modified her profile gender to "male" Then, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her professional summary using "male-coded" language Finally, she repurposed old posts with similar "assertive" language The result was immediate: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within seven days. The Negative Aspect Despite the positive results, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the method. "Previously, my posts were softer - brief and insightful, but also warm and relatable," she explained. "Now, the bro-coded version was forceful and self-assured - similar to a white male swaggering around." She abandoned the experiment after seven days, stating "Every day I persisted, and outcomes improved, I became angrier." Mixed Results Not all testers experienced positive outcomes. One writer who changed both her gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "white" described a decrease in reach and engagement. "We understand there's algorithmic bias, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it operates in specific cases or the reasons behind it," she remarked. Broader Implications These experiments coincide with ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's unique position as both a professional network and social space. Recent changes in the past few months have apparently caused women professionals experiencing markedly lower visibility, leading to unofficial tests where identical content by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement. Technical Explanation Per LinkedIn, the platform uses AI systems to categorize and distribute content based on multiple factors, including what's shared and the member's career profile. The company claims it regularly evaluates its systems, including "examinations of gender-related disparities." Company representative suggested that current reductions in some users' reach might stem from increased competition due to additional posts on the network. Changing Landscape As one participant noted, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the network. "Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and polished," she remarked. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly competitive and less controlled."