Women Challenge LinkedIn Algorithm by Posing as Men: Reporting Dramatic Increases in Engagement and Visibility

Women across the platform transformed their identities by adopting male aliases - converting names like Simone to Simon - and changing their pronouns to he/him.

United States:

A significant trend has emerged on LinkedIn where female professionals are switching their gender settings to "male" and even adorning their profile pictures with fake mustaches to challenge what they perceive as algorithmic gender bias on the platform.

The movement gained momentum last month when women users began reporting dramatic increases in their content visibility after adopting male identities on the professional networking site, triggering widespread participation.

These women didn't stop at just changing names and pronouns - many utilized AI tools to rewrite their existing posts with more stereotypically masculine language to create what they describe as engagement-driving alpha personas.

Adding a humorous element to their experiment, numerous participants uploaded profile photos featuring stick-on mustaches.

The outcomes were noteworthy.

Many participants reported substantial increases in their engagement metrics, with previously quiet posts suddenly receiving significant interaction.

London-based entrepreneur and investor Jo Dalton shared her experience: "I changed my pronouns and accidentally broke my own LinkedIn engagement records," noting a remarkable 244 percent boost in her content's reach.

"So here I am, in a stick-on moustache, purely in the interest of science to see if I can trick the algorithm into thinking I am a man."

'Gendered discrepancies'

In a test conducted by a female AFP journalist who altered her settings to male, LinkedIn analytics revealed significant increases in post reach compared to the previous week.

The cumulative impressions on her posts numbered several thousand more than those from the week before.

Malin Frithiofsson, CEO of Sweden-based Daya Ventures, commented that the LinkedIn experiment highlighted long-felt "gendered discrepancies" in professional settings for women.

"We're at a point where women are changing their LinkedIn gender to male, swapping their names and profile photos, even asking AI to rewrite their bios as 'if a man wrote them,'" Frithiofsson explained.

"And their reach skyrockets."

LinkedIn firmly denied accusations of built-in gender bias.

"Our algorithms do not use gender as a ranking signal, and changing gender on your profile does not affect how your content appears in search or feed," a LinkedIn spokesperson told AFP.

Nevertheless, women who experienced engagement increases are demanding greater transparency regarding how the platform's algorithm - largely inscrutable, similar to other social platforms - determines which profiles and posts receive greater visibility while others are deprioritized.

'More successful'

"I don't believe there's a line of code in LinkedIn's tech stack that says 'if female < promote less,'" Frithiofsson stated in a LinkedIn post.

"Do I believe gendered bias can emerge through data inputs, reinforcement loops, and cultural norms around what a 'professional voice' sounds like? Yes. Absolutely."

LinkedIn representative Sakshi Jain explained in a blog post that the platform's AI systems and algorithms evaluate "hundreds of signals" - including users' networks and activity patterns - to determine post visibility.

She added that increasing content volume has created greater "competition" for attention on the platform.

This explanation was met with skepticism by many users, particularly since enhanced visibility on the platform can translate directly to improved career opportunities and income.

British journalist Rosie Taylor reported that the boost her profile received "from being a 'man' for just one week" resulted in a 161 percent increase in unique visitors to her newsletter compared to the previous week.

This led to an impressive 86 percent increase in new weekly subscriptions via LinkedIn.

"Who knows how much more successful I might have been if the algorithm had thought I was a man from the start?" Taylor reflected.