Just imagine. It’s 5am now. As I sat at my kitchen table sipping a recession-proof homemade latte and scrolling through the headlines following my favorite dark early vices, a Washington Post feature article from December 29, 2025 caught my attention.
In “Why Women Pretend to Be Men on LinkedIn,” reporter Taylor Telford interviews Megan Cornish about her “experiment” with LinkedIn marketing. It was by switching the gender of her profile from she/her to he/him that her online presence visibly improved.
Is this something professional women should consider in 2026? In this article, I walk agents through simple changes I made to their personal profiles and provide examples of prompts I used in ChatGPT to implement them.
Staffing
Cornish’s hypothesis was simple. Based on an analysis of her personal profile, she felt almost invisible on social platforms and wondered if switching to a more masculine approach to content creation might improve her personal presence.
Following her lead, within 15 minutes of reading the article, I switched my profile to “I’m a Planner” and asked Cove (ChatGPT’s adult partner and assistant) to ditch all the carefully crafted empathetic and sympathetic content I usually write.
I recognize that I am pushing certain ethical boundaries with this experiment, and I would like to make it clear that I do not intend to defraud or mislead anyone or anyone on the platform by adjusting my gender identity. I really wanted to see if I could make a visible difference in reach with just a little bit of effort.
I took a topic I usually write about, wrote what I usually say about it, and asked Cove to add context and shape it for a male audience. I really wanted to know if the change would be as noticeable as the Post article points out, or if there were too many variables in the data to confirm the fact.
test
First, if I didn’t already mention it in the original article and research, LinkedIn says its platform has no gender bias, but it doesn’t explain why this change had such a different outcome for women (including me) who wanted to try the old switcher.
Usually my posts on LinkedIn get a few nods here and there, but I thought I’d get enough reach without paying to play. In other words, how many people on LinkedIn are actually the targets of my messages?
To be fair, I have identified two posts that are similar in nature. The posts I chose were work-specific, educational, and shared articles from a trusted media source called McKnights. McKnights is your leading source for all things long-term care and senior housing data, trends, and information.
Post 1: Original me
ChatGPT methods and prompts
SEO-optimize my original post (what I wanted to say, what I wrote) for length and reach as a LinkedIn post, and recommend relevant hashtags.
Typically, my goals for LinkedIn posts are very simple. This typically includes education and sharing professional announcements and events that I feel will benefit my network.
Ultimately, when you create a post on LinkedIn, you need to think about not only what you want to say and express, but also how to structure it so the algorithm knows how to push or pull your message through the network.
Post 2: New me
Its ChatGPT method and prompts
SEO-optimize my original post for length, reach it as a LinkedIn post, recommend relevant hashtags, and make it sound masculine, like it was written by a man instead of my typical writing.
In this second post, you’ll notice that the prompt uses fewer emojis and is more assertive. This post wasn’t about the visuals, it was about the message.
SEO sadness
Like trying to understand algorithmic hacks and formulas, there are too many variables that shape why some posts go “viral” and others disappear into the abyss. It’s also foolish to think that just because you’ve identified one trend doesn’t mean that the ever-evolving algorithms on social platforms will adjust quarterly.
Impressions after half a year.
Is there enough data to conclude that this is a true hack? No, nada, that’s a minus, Ghost Rider. Do we have enough data to continue this change over the next few months and see if we can collect meaningful data and results? We’re sure you agree, so stay tuned for more updates.
Thoughts after a week.
final thoughts
So, will this “hack” last long? Probably not, but if you have an announcement of important data that your audience needs to know, it’s worth a try. Are you frustrated that even though 2026 is the year of the Lord, the digital landscape is still shaped by gender-biased coding and influence? Yes, but let’s be real. We have bigger fish to fry than digital bias this year.
I plan to continue this experiment, but no one has commented or questioned my profile changes. Because of this, I don’t think this is in any way an indicator that LinkedIn is pushing for more visible notifications on its platform.
This is probably just another one of my “virtue-telling” posts, as my critics like to point out, but I feel like this change is measurable enough to continually see if I’m actually getting the added value of “free” that I don’t normally have access to.
It is your responsibility to advocate for yourself and your business in person and online. Curiosity certainly hasn’t killed the cat yet, and I’m not going to avoid tough questions about bias any time soon.
Don’t be afraid to try new things. If it works, there’s no need to put it off. Share. What women need in 2026 is not more guidance, but more sponsorship to move forward.
Rachel Hite is a senior housing counselor, author, and thought leader in real estate and aging. Follow her work on Instagram and LinkedIn.
