Professional Network Visibility Boost: Women Find Better Results By Presenting to be Men

Are your professional networking connections recognizing you as a industry expert? Do numerous commenters applauding your advice on expanding your venture? Are headhunters reaching out to explore collaborations?

Should that not be the case, the explanation might be your gender.

The Experiment: Changing Profile Gender to achieve Increased Reach

Dozens of women participated in a collective LinkedIn experiment recently after viral posts indicated that switching their profile gender to "man" enhanced their network presence.

Other testers rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they called "bro-coded" terminology - inserting action-focused business buzzwords like "propel", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Anecdotally, their exposure also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Raised

The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether a built-in gender bias in the platform's system prioritizes men who use online business jargon.

Similar to most major social media platforms, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to decide which content are shown to which users - promoting some while reducing others.

Company Statement

In a recent blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but claimed it does not factor in "personal characteristics" when deciding post visibility. Instead, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" affect how posts perform.

Changing gender on your profile does not affect how your posts shows up in results or timelines.

Personal Experiences

Simone Bonnett, who changed her gender identifiers to "male pronouns" and her name to "Simon E", reported extraordinary results.

"The statistics I'm seeing show 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 Method

• First, she changed her profile gender to "man"
• Then, she used AI tools to rephrase her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" wording
• Lastly, she recycled previous content with comparable "assertive" language

The outcome was instantaneous: a more than fourfold rise in reach within seven days.

The Negative Aspect

Despite the positive results, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the method.

"Before, my posts were softer - concise and insightful, but also friendly and human," she stated. "Currently, the bro-coded version was forceful and confident - similar to a white male being overly confident."

She discontinued the experiment after seven days, stating "Every day I continued, and outcomes improved, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Not all testers encountered positive results. Cass Cooper who changed both her gender to "man" and her ethnicity to "Caucasian" reported a decrease in visibility and interaction.

"We know there's systemic preference, but it's very challenging to comprehend how it operates in specific cases or why," she commented.

Wider Consequences

These experiments coincide with continuing discussions about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a professional network and social space.

Platform modifications in recent months have apparently resulted in female creators experiencing significantly reduced exposure, leading to unofficial tests where the same content by men and women received vastly different reach.

System Details

Per LinkedIn, the platform uses AI systems to categorize and distribute content based on multiple factors, including what's shared and the user's professional identity.

The company claims it frequently assesses its systems, including "checks for gender-related disparities."

Company representative proposed that current reductions in some users' reach might originate from higher volume due to more content on the platform.

Evolving Environment

As one participant observed, "bro-coding" appears to be growing on the platform.

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