đź”— Share this article LinkedIn Visibility Surge: Women Find Success By Pretending to be Men Do your LinkedIn connections recognizing you as a thought leader? Do numerous commenters praising your insights on expanding your business? Do recruiters reaching out to discuss collaborations? Should that not be the case, the reason could be that you're not male. The Experiment: Modifying Profile Gender to achieve Better Visibility Numerous female professionals participated in an organized professional network test this week following popular discussions indicated that changing their gender to "man" enhanced their platform visibility. Other testers rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "masculine-oriented" terminology - adding action-focused professional jargon like "drive", "transform" and "expedite". Based on reports, their exposure similarly increased. Algorithmic Bias Concerns Raised The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether a built-in sexism in the platform's system favors men who use professional networking terminology. Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes an algorithm to determine which content are shown to which members - boosting some while reducing others. Platform Response In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but stated it does not factor in "personal characteristics" when deciding post visibility. Instead, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" influence how posts are received. Modifying profile gender in your settings does not affect how your posts shows up in results or timelines. Personal Experiences Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her profile name to "a masculine version", reported remarkable results. "The numbers I'm observing indicate a 1,600% increase in profile views and a 1,300% increase in impressions," she noted. Another professional, a communications strategist, started testing after observing her audience decrease substantially. The Method Initially, she changed her profile gender to "man" Subsequently, she used AI tools to rewrite her professional summary using "male-coded" wording Finally, she repurposed previous content with similar "agentic" style The outcome was immediate: a 415% increase in reach within seven days. The Downside Although the success, Cornish expressed unhappiness with the approach. "Previously, my posts were softer - brief and insightful, but also warm and relatable," she stated. "Currently, the bro-coded version was forceful and self-assured - like a white male swaggering around." She abandoned the experiment after seven days, stating "Each day I persisted, and results got better, I became angrier." Mixed Results Some participants experienced favorable outcomes. One writer who changed both her gender to "man" and her race to "Caucasian" described a decrease in reach and interaction. "We understand there's systemic preference, but it's very challenging to comprehend how it functions in specific cases or the reasons behind it," she commented. Broader Implications These tests coincide with continuing conversations about LinkedIn's distinctive position as both a business platform and social space. Recent changes in the past few months have apparently caused female creators experiencing significantly reduced visibility, resulting in informal experiments where identical posts by men and women received dramatically unequal audience engagement. Technical Explanation Per LinkedIn, the platform uses AI systems to categorize and spread content based on various elements, including what's shared and the member's career profile. The company claims it frequently assesses its algorithms, including "examinations of gender-related disparities." Company representative suggested that current reductions in some users' reach might stem from increased competition due to more content on the platform. Changing Landscape As one participant noted, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the platform. "People often view LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she remarked. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and less controlled."