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Are your LinkedIn followers recognizing you as a thought leader? Do numerous respondents applauding your advice on expanding your business? Are headhunters reaching out to discuss opportunities?

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

The Experiment: Changing Gender Identity for Increased Reach

Numerous female professionals joined an organized professional network test this week following popular discussions suggested that changing their gender to "male" boosted their network presence.

Other testers modified their profiles to incorporate what they termed "masculine-oriented" language - adding results-driven professional jargon like "drive", "revolutionize" and "accelerate". Based on reports, their visibility also improved.

Systemic Preference Concerns Raised

The improved metrics has caused some to wonder whether a built-in sexism in the platform's system favors men who employ online business jargon.

Similar to most major networking sites, LinkedIn employs an algorithm to determine which content appear to which users - promoting some while reducing others.

Platform Response

In a recent company announcement, LinkedIn recognized the phenomenon but claimed it does not consider "demographic information" when determining content distribution. Instead, the company explained that "hundreds of signals" influence how posts are received.

Changing gender in your settings does not influence how your posts appears in search or feed.

Individual Results

Simone Bonnett, who modified her gender identifiers to "he/him" and her profile name to "a masculine version", described remarkable outcomes.

"The numbers I'm seeing indicate a sixteen-fold rise in visitor traffic and a thirteen-fold jump in content views," she noted.

Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, started testing after noticing her reach decline significantly.

The Method

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

The result was instantaneous: a more than fourfold rise in visibility within seven days.

The Negative Aspect

Despite the success, Cornish expressed unhappiness with the method.

"Previously, my posts were softer - brief and insightful, but also friendly and relatable," she explained. "Now, the masculine version was forceful and confident - similar to a Caucasian man swaggering around."

She abandoned the test after seven days, saying "Every day I persisted, and results got better, I became more frustrated."

Mixed Results

Not all participants encountered positive outcomes. One writer who modified both her gender to "male" and her ethnicity to "white" reported a decrease in reach and engagement.

"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.

Wider Consequences

These tests coincide with ongoing conversations about LinkedIn's unique role as both a business platform and social space.

Recent changes in the past few months have reportedly caused female creators experiencing markedly lower exposure, resulting in unofficial tests where the same content by male and female users received vastly different reach.

System Details

Per LinkedIn, the network uses AI systems to classify and distribute content based on various elements, including post content and the member's career profile.

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

Company representative suggested that recent declines in some users' reach might originate from increased competition due to more content on the platform.

Changing Landscape

According to a tester noted, "bro-coding" appears to be increasing on the network.

"People often view LinkedIn as more businesslike and refined," she commented. "This is evolving. It's becoming increasingly competitive and unpredictable."