Dozens of women have reported a dramatic increase in LinkedIn engagement after changing their profile gender to male and adopting 'bro-coded' language, sparking debate about potential algorithmic bias on the platform.
Simone Bonnett, an Oxford-based social media consultant, said switching her pronouns to 'he/him' and name to 'Simon E' led to a 1,600% rise in profile views and a 1,300% increase in impressions. Megan Cornish, a communications strategist, saw a 415% boost in reach after rewriting her profile with male-coded buzzwords like 'strategic' and 'leader'.
LinkedIn denied that gender affects content visibility, stating in a blog post that 'hundreds of signals' determine post performance and that demographic information is not used. However, the anecdotal evidence has led some to question whether the algorithm favours assertive, jargon-heavy language typically associated with male users.
Not all women had positive results. Cass Cooper, a Black writer, reported a decline in reach after changing her gender to male and race to white, highlighting that algorithmic bias may intersect with race as well. Cooper expressed frustration not with the platform but with broader societal biases.
The trend originated from recent algorithm changes that female creators say have reduced their visibility, prompting experiments to test whether male-presenting profiles perform better. While some participants enjoyed the boost, others like Cornish abandoned the experiment after a week, finding the 'bro-coded' style inauthentic and frustrating.
