🔗 Share this article Professional Network Visibility Surge: Women Find Success By Presenting to be Men Do your LinkedIn followers viewing you as a thought leader? Do numerous respondents praising your insights on growing your business? Are headhunters reaching out to explore collaborations? Should that not be the case, the reason might be that you're not male. The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender to achieve Increased Reach Numerous female professionals participated in an organized LinkedIn experiment this week following popular discussions indicated that switching their profile gender to "male" boosted their network presence. Other testers rewrote their professional summaries to include what they termed "bro-coded" language - adding results-driven business buzzwords like "drive", "transform" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their exposure similarly increased. Systemic Preference Questions Raised The improved metrics has led some to speculate whether a built-in gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes men who use professional networking terminology. Similar to many large networking sites, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to decide which posts appear to which members - boosting some while suppressing others. Company Statement In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not consider "demographic information" when determining post visibility. Instead, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" affect how posts are received. Modifying profile gender in your settings does not affect how your posts appears in search or feed. Personal Experiences A social media consultant, who changed her pronouns to "he/him" and her profile name to "a masculine version", reported extraordinary outcomes. "The numbers I'm seeing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in visitor traffic and a 1,300% increase in impressions," she commented. Another professional, a communications strategist, started testing after noticing her reach decrease substantially. The Method First, she changed her profile gender to "male" Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her profile using "masculine-oriented" language Finally, she recycled old posts with comparable "agentic" language The outcome was instantaneous: a 415% increase in reach within one week. The Negative Aspect Despite the positive results, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method. "Before, my posts were more personal - concise and clever, but also friendly and human," she explained. "Currently, the bro-coded version was assertive and confident - like a Caucasian man swaggering around." She discontinued the test after one week, saying "Every day I persisted, and results improved, I became more frustrated." Mixed Results Some testers encountered positive outcomes. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her race to "Caucasian" described a decrease in visibility and engagement. "We know there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or why," she remarked. Wider Consequences These tests coincide with continuing discussions about LinkedIn's unique role as both a business platform and community site. Recent changes in the past few months have reportedly caused women professionals experiencing markedly lower visibility, resulting in unofficial tests where the same posts by men and women received vastly different audience engagement. Technical Explanation According to LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to categorize and spread posts based on various elements, including what's shared and the user's professional identity. The company states it regularly evaluates its algorithms, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender." A spokesperson suggested that recent declines in some users' reach might stem from higher volume due to more content on the platform. Changing Landscape According to a tester observed, "bro-coding" appears to be growing on the network. "Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."