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Do your LinkedIn followers viewing you as a thought leader? Do numerous commenters praising your advice on growing your venture? Do recruiters making contact to discuss opportunities?

Should that not be the case, the explanation could be that you're not male.

The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender for Better Visibility

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

Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to include what they called "bro-coded" terminology - adding results-driven business buzzwords like "propel", "transform" and "expedite". Based on reports, their visibility similarly increased.

Systemic Preference Concerns Raised

The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether an inherent gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm favors men who employ professional networking terminology.

Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to decide which content appear to which members - promoting some while reducing others.

Company Statement

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but claimed it does not factor in "demographic information" when deciding post visibility. Instead, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" influence how posts perform.

Modifying profile gender on your profile does not influence how your content appears in results or timelines.

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", reported remarkable outcomes.

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

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

The Method

• First, she modified her profile gender to "man"
• Subsequently, she used AI tools to rewrite her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" language
• Lastly, she repurposed previous content with comparable "assertive" language

The result was immediate: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within one week.

The Negative Aspect

Although the positive results, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the approach.

"Previously, my posts were more personal - concise and clever, but also warm and human," she stated. "Currently, the masculine version was assertive and self-assured - like a white male being overly confident."

She discontinued the test after seven days, stating "Each day I persisted, and results improved, I became angrier."

Varying Outcomes

Some participants experienced positive results. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her race to "Caucasian" reported a decrease in visibility and engagement.

"We understand there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it operates in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she commented.

Wider Consequences

These tests coincide with ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's unique position as both a business platform and community site.

Recent changes in recent months have apparently caused female creators experiencing markedly lower exposure, leading to informal experiments where identical content by male and female users received dramatically unequal reach.

System Details

According to LinkedIn, the platform uses artificial intelligence to classify and distribute content based on multiple factors, including post content and the member's career profile.

The company claims it regularly evaluates its algorithms, including "examinations of gender-related disparities."

A spokesperson suggested 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, "bro-coding" appears to be increasing on the network.

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