🔗 Share this article LinkedIn Engagement Boost: Women Discover Better Results When Pretending as Men Do your LinkedIn followers viewing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of respondents applauding your insights on growing your venture? Do recruiters making contact to explore collaborations? Should that not be the case, the explanation might be your gender. The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity to achieve Better Visibility Dozens of women joined a collective LinkedIn experiment recently after viral posts indicated that changing their gender to "male" boosted their network presence. Other testers modified their profiles to include what they termed "bro-coded" terminology - inserting results-driven business buzzwords like "drive", "transform" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their visibility also improved. Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether an inherent gender bias in the platform's system prioritizes male users who employ online business jargon. Like many large networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to determine which posts appear to which users - boosting some while suppressing others. Platform Response Through a company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the trend but claimed it does not consider "demographic information" when deciding content distribution. Instead, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" affect how content are received. Modifying profile gender in your settings does not affect how your posts appears in results or timelines. Individual Results Simone Bonnett, who changed her pronouns to "he/him" and her profile name to "Simon E", reported extraordinary outcomes. "The statistics I'm seeing indicate a 1,600% increase in visitor traffic and a 1,300% increase in content views," she noted. Another professional, a marketing expert, started testing after noticing her reach decline substantially. The Process First, she modified her profile gender to "male" Then, she used AI tools to rewrite her professional summary using "masculine-oriented" wording Lastly, she recycled previous content with similar "agentic" language The outcome was immediate: a 415% increase in visibility within one week. The Downside Although the positive results, Cornish expressed dissatisfaction with the method. "Previously, my content were softer - brief and insightful, but also warm and human," she stated. "Currently, the masculine version was assertive and self-assured - similar to a Caucasian man being overly confident." She abandoned the experiment after one week, stating "Each day I continued, and results improved, I became more frustrated." Varying Outcomes Not all testers experienced favorable results. One writer who changed both her profile gender to "male" and her race to "Caucasian" reported a decrease in reach and interaction. "We know there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to understand how it operates in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she remarked. Broader Implications These experiments occur alongside ongoing discussions about LinkedIn's unique role as both a business platform and community site. Recent changes in the past few months have apparently caused female creators experiencing significantly reduced visibility, resulting in informal experiments where identical posts by male and female users received dramatically unequal reach. System Details Per LinkedIn, the platform uses artificial intelligence to categorize and distribute content based on multiple factors, including what's shared and the member's career profile. The company states it frequently assesses its systems, including "checks for inequalities based on gender." Company representative proposed that recent declines in certain members' visibility might originate from higher volume due to additional posts on the platform. Evolving Environment According to a tester observed, "bro-coding" appears to be growing on the platform. "Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and polished," she remarked. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and unpredictable."