🔗 Share this article LinkedIn Engagement Boost: Women Find Better Results By Presenting as Men Are your professional networking connections viewing you as a thought leader? Do numerous respondents praising your advice on expanding your venture? Do recruiters reaching out to discuss collaborations? If not, the reason might be that you're not male. The Test: Changing Gender Identity for Increased Reach Numerous female professionals participated in an organized professional network test recently following viral posts indicated that switching their profile gender to "male" boosted their platform visibility. Other testers rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "masculine-oriented" language - inserting results-driven professional jargon like "drive", "transform" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their visibility also improved. Systemic Preference Concerns Brought Up The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether an inherent sexism in the platform's system prioritizes men who use professional networking terminology. Like many large networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes an algorithm to decide which posts appear to which users - boosting some while suppressing others. Company Statement Through a company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Instead, the company explained that "numerous factors" affect how content are received. Changing gender in your settings does not affect how your content appears in search or feed. Individual Results Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her profile name to "Simon E", reported extraordinary outcomes. "The numbers I'm seeing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in visitor traffic and a 1,300% increase in content views," she noted. Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, started testing after observing her reach decline substantially. The Process First, she modified her gender to "man" Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her professional summary using "male-coded" wording Lastly, she repurposed previous content with similar "assertive" style The outcome was instantaneous: a 415% increase in visibility within one week. The Downside Although the success, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method. "Previously, my posts were softer - concise and insightful, but also friendly and relatable," she explained. "Now, the masculine version was forceful and self-assured - like a Caucasian man being overly confident." She discontinued the test after one week, saying "Every day I continued, and results got better, I became angrier." Varying Outcomes Not all participants experienced positive outcomes. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "white" described a reduction in reach and engagement. "We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it functions in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she commented. Wider Consequences These experiments coincide with ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's unique role as both a professional network and community site. Platform modifications in the past few months have apparently caused women professionals experiencing significantly reduced visibility, leading to unofficial tests where identical content by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement. System Details According to LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence 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 algorithms, including "checks for gender-related disparities." A spokesperson proposed that recent declines in certain members' visibility might stem from higher volume due to more content on the network. Evolving Environment As one participant observed, "bro-coding" appears to be increasing on the platform. "Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she commented. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and less controlled."