🔗 Share this article Professional Network Visibility Surge: Female Professionals Discover Better Results When Pretending as Men Do your professional networking followers recognizing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of commenters praising your advice on growing your venture? Are headhunters reaching out to discuss collaborations? Should that not be the case, the explanation might be your gender. The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity to achieve Increased Reach Numerous women participated in a collective professional network test this week after viral posts suggested that changing their gender to "man" boosted their platform visibility. Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "masculine-oriented" terminology - inserting results-driven professional jargon like "drive", "revolutionize" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their exposure similarly increased. Systemic Preference Questions Raised The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether an inherent sexism in the platform's system prioritizes male users who employ online business jargon. Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs a computerized system to determine which posts appear to which members - boosting some while suppressing others. Company Statement In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn recognized the phenomenon but stated it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Instead, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" affect how content perform. Modifying profile gender on your profile does not affect how your content shows up in results or timelines. Individual Results Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her name to "a masculine version", reported extraordinary results. "The statistics I'm seeing show a 1,600% increase in profile views and a 1,300% increase in content views," she commented. Another professional, a marketing expert, began experimenting after observing her reach decline substantially. The Process Initially, she changed her profile gender to "man" Subsequently, she used AI tools to rephrase her profile using "male-coded" wording Lastly, she recycled previous content with comparable "agentic" style The result was instantaneous: a 415% increase in visibility within one week. The Downside Despite the success, Cornish voiced unhappiness with the approach. "Before, my content were more personal - concise and clever, but also friendly and relatable," she stated. "Currently, the bro-coded version was forceful and confident - similar to a white male swaggering around." She abandoned the test after seven days, saying "Every day I persisted, and outcomes got better, I became angrier." Mixed Results Not all testers experienced favorable results. One writer who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her race to "Caucasian" reported a decrease in reach and engagement. "We know there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it functions in specific cases or the reasons behind it," she commented. Wider Consequences These tests coincide with ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a professional network and community site. Platform modifications in the past few months have reportedly caused female creators experiencing markedly lower visibility, resulting in unofficial tests where the same content by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement. Technical Explanation 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 algorithms, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender." Company representative suggested that current reductions in certain members' visibility might originate from higher volume due to additional posts on the network. Changing Landscape According to a tester noted, "bro-coding" appears to be increasing on the platform. "People often view LinkedIn as more professional and polished," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly competitive and unpredictable."