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Are your LinkedIn connections viewing you as a industry expert? Are hordes of respondents applauding your insights on expanding your venture? Do recruiters making contact to explore opportunities?

Should that not be the case, the explanation could be that you're not male.

The Experiment: Changing Gender Identity to achieve Increased Reach

Dozens of female professionals joined a collective LinkedIn experiment this week after popular discussions indicated that switching their profile gender to "male" boosted their network presence.

Some participants rewrote their professional summaries to incorporate what they termed "masculine-oriented" terminology - adding action-focused professional jargon like "propel", "transform" and "expedite". Based on reports, their exposure also improved.

Algorithmic Bias Concerns Brought Up

The engagement increase has led some to speculate whether a built-in sexism in the platform's system prioritizes male users who employ professional networking terminology.

Similar to most major social media platforms, LinkedIn utilizes a computerized system to determine which posts are shown to which members - boosting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent blog post, LinkedIn recognized the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "personal characteristics" when determining content distribution. Rather, the company explained that "numerous factors" affect how posts are received.

Modifying profile gender on your profile does not influence how your content appears in search or feed.

Personal Experiences

A social media consultant, who modified her pronouns to "he/him" and her profile name to "Simon E", described extraordinary outcomes.

"The numbers I'm observing indicate a 1,600% increase in profile views and a thirteen-fold jump in impressions," she noted.

Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, began experimenting after observing her audience decline significantly.

The Method

• First, she modified her gender to "man"
• Then, she used AI tools to rewrite her profile using "masculine-oriented" language
• Finally, she repurposed previous content with comparable "assertive" language

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

The Negative Aspect

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

"Previously, my posts were softer - concise and clever, but also warm and relatable," she stated. "Now, the bro-coded version was assertive and confident - like a white male swaggering around."

She abandoned the test after seven days, stating "Each day I persisted, and results improved, I became more frustrated."

Mixed Results

Some participants encountered favorable results. Cass Cooper who modified both her profile gender to "male" and her race to "white" described a reduction in visibility and engagement.

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

Wider Consequences

These tests occur alongside continuing conversations about LinkedIn's distinctive role as both a business platform and social space.

Recent changes in the past few months have apparently resulted in female creators experiencing markedly lower exposure, resulting in unofficial tests where identical posts by male and female users received vastly different audience engagement.

System Details

Per LinkedIn, the network uses artificial intelligence to classify and distribute posts based on multiple factors, including post content and the member's career profile.

The company claims it frequently assesses its algorithms, including "examinations of inequalities based on gender."

A spokesperson suggested that recent declines in some users' reach might originate from higher volume due to additional posts on the network.

Changing Landscape

As one participant observed, "masculine-oriented language" appears to be increasing on the platform.

"Users typically consider LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she remarked. "That's changing. It's becoming increasingly aggressive and less controlled."