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Are your LinkedIn followers recognizing you as a thought leader? Do numerous commenters praising your insights on growing your business? Do recruiters reaching out to discuss collaborations?

If not, the explanation could be your gender.

The Test: Changing Gender Identity for Increased Reach

Numerous women joined a collective professional network test this week following popular discussions suggested that changing their profile gender to "male" boosted their network presence.

Other testers rewrote their profiles to include what they termed "bro-coded" terminology - inserting action-focused business buzzwords like "drive", "transform" and "expedite". Based on reports, their visibility also improved.

Systemic Preference Concerns Raised

The engagement increase has caused some to wonder whether a built-in sexism in the platform's system prioritizes men who employ professional networking terminology.

Similar to many large social media platforms, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to determine which posts are shown to which members - boosting some while reducing others.

Company Statement

Through a company announcement, LinkedIn acknowledged the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "personal characteristics" when deciding content distribution. Instead, the company mentioned that "hundreds of signals" affect how content are received.

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

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who modified her pronouns to "male pronouns" and her profile name to "Simon E", reported remarkable outcomes.

"The statistics I'm observing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in visitor traffic and a 1,300% increase in content views," she noted.

Another professional, a communications strategist, began experimenting after noticing her audience decrease substantially.

The Process

• First, she changed her profile gender to "male"
• Subsequently, she used artificial intelligence to rephrase her profile using "masculine-oriented" language
• Lastly, she repurposed old posts with similar "agentic" language

The result was instantaneous: a 415% increase in reach within one week.

The Downside

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

"Before, my posts were more personal - brief and insightful, but also warm and relatable," she explained. "Now, the bro-coded version was assertive and confident - like a white male swaggering around."

She discontinued the experiment after one week, stating "Every day I continued, and outcomes got better, I became more frustrated."

Mixed Results

Not all testers experienced favorable outcomes. Cass Cooper who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her race to "white" described a reduction in visibility and engagement.

"We understand there's systemic preference, but it's extremely difficult to comprehend how it functions in particular situations or why," she remarked.

Broader Implications

These tests coincide with ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a business platform and community site.

Platform modifications in recent months have reportedly resulted in women professionals experiencing markedly lower visibility, leading to unofficial tests where the same posts by men and women received dramatically unequal reach.

System Details

According to LinkedIn, the network uses AI systems to categorize and spread content based on various elements, including post content and the user's professional identity.

The company states it regularly evaluates its systems, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender."

A spokesperson suggested that recent declines in certain members' visibility might stem from increased competition due to more content on the platform.

Changing Landscape

According to a tester observed, "bro-coding" appears to be growing on the network.

"People often view LinkedIn as more professional and refined," she commented. "This is evolving. It's turning into increasingly competitive and less controlled."