🔗 Share this article Professional Network Engagement Boost: Female Professionals Find Better Results When Pretending to be Male Users Are your LinkedIn followers viewing you as a industry expert? Do numerous respondents applauding your advice on expanding your business? Are headhunters reaching out to explore collaborations? If not, the explanation might be that you're not male. The Test: Changing Profile Gender for Increased Reach Dozens of female professionals participated in a collective LinkedIn experiment this week following viral posts suggested that changing their profile gender to "male" enhanced their platform visibility. Some participants modified their profiles to include what they called "masculine-oriented" terminology - inserting action-focused business buzzwords like "propel", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their visibility similarly increased. Algorithmic Bias Questions Brought Up The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether an inherent gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes men who use online business jargon. Like most major networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to decide which content appear to which users - boosting some while suppressing others. Platform Response In a recent blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not consider "demographic information" when deciding post visibility. Instead, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" influence how posts are received. Modifying profile gender in your settings does not affect how your posts appears in search or feed. Individual Results Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", described extraordinary results. "The numbers I'm seeing show a sixteen-fold rise in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in impressions," she noted. Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, began experimenting after noticing her reach decrease significantly. The Process First, she changed her gender to "man" Then, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her professional summary using "male-coded" language Finally, she recycled previous content with similar "agentic" language The result was immediate: a 415% increase in reach within seven days. The Negative Aspect Although the positive results, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method. "Previously, my content were softer - concise and insightful, but also warm and human," she explained. "Now, the masculine version was forceful and self-assured - similar to a Caucasian man swaggering around." She discontinued the experiment after seven days, saying "Every day I continued, and results got better, I became angrier." Varying Outcomes Not all participants experienced favorable results. Cass Cooper who modified both her gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "white" reported a reduction in visibility and engagement. "We understand there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it operates in particular situations or why," she commented. Broader Implications These experiments occur alongside continuing conversations about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a professional network and community site. Recent changes in recent months have apparently resulted in female creators experiencing significantly reduced visibility, resulting in unofficial tests where identical content by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement. System Details Per LinkedIn, the platform uses artificial intelligence to categorize and spread content based on various elements, including post content and the member's career profile. The company states it frequently assesses its systems, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender." A spokesperson suggested that recent declines in certain members' visibility might originate from higher volume due to additional posts on the network. Evolving Environment As one participant noted, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the network. "Users typically consider LinkedIn as more professional and polished," she commented. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly competitive and less controlled."