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Do your LinkedIn followers viewing you as a thought leader? Do numerous commenters praising your insights on growing your business? Do recruiters making contact to discuss collaborations?

Should that not be the case, the reason could be your gender.

The Experiment: Modifying Gender Identity for Increased Reach

Dozens of female professionals joined an organized LinkedIn experiment this week after viral posts suggested that switching their gender to "man" boosted their network presence.

Some participants modified their professional summaries to include what they termed "masculine-oriented" terminology - inserting action-focused professional jargon like "propel", "transform" and "expedite". Anecdotally, their exposure similarly increased.

Algorithmic Bias Questions Brought Up

The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether a built-in gender bias in LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes male users who use professional networking terminology.

Similar to many large networking sites, LinkedIn utilizes an algorithm to decide which posts appear to which members - boosting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

Through a blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but stated it does not consider "demographic information" when determining post visibility. Rather, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" affect how content are received.

Changing gender on your profile does not affect how your posts shows up in search or feed.

Personal Experiences

A social media consultant, who modified her pronouns to "male pronouns" and her profile name to "a masculine version", described extraordinary outcomes.

"The statistics I'm seeing show a 1,600% increase in profile views and a 1,300% increase in impressions," she noted.

Megan Cornish, a marketing expert, began experimenting after noticing her audience decrease substantially.

The Method

• First, she modified her profile gender to "male"
• Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rewrite her profile using "male-coded" wording
• Finally, she repurposed previous content with similar "assertive" style

The result was immediate: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within one week.

The Negative Aspect

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

"Before, my content were more personal - brief and insightful, but also friendly and relatable," she explained. "Currently, the masculine version was assertive and confident - similar to a white male swaggering around."

She abandoned the experiment after seven days, saying "Every day I persisted, and outcomes improved, I became more frustrated."

Varying Outcomes

Some testers encountered positive outcomes. Cass Cooper who modified both her gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "white" reported a reduction in reach and interaction.

"We know there's algorithmic bias, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or the reasons behind it," she remarked.

Wider Consequences

These tests coincide with ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's distinctive position as both a professional network and community site.

Recent changes in the past few months have apparently caused female creators experiencing markedly lower visibility, leading to informal experiments where the same content by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement.

Technical Explanation

According to LinkedIn, the platform uses artificial intelligence to classify and distribute posts based on various elements, including post content and the member's career profile.

The company claims it regularly evaluates its systems, including "examinations of 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 network.

Evolving Environment

According to a tester noted, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the platform.

"People often view LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she remarked. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly competitive and unpredictable."