For those who know me IRL, you may have noticed that my personal social profile on FB disappeared last week. This was not an accident, unfortunately. So sick back, buckle up, and let me explain why I’ve not had social media in my “real” name since 2010.

In 2010, as I was finishing up my last two semesters of college, it had become quite normal for employers to not only check out employees’ and potential employees’ social media accounts, they were also using the content as determining factors to hire and/or terminate. We all knew it was going on, and while no one approved of it, it was just another one of those things that we had to put up with. Since I wasn’t very active on any of my IRL accounts, I opted to delete everything that included my “IRL” persona, keeping only those accounts for my pseudonym.

Fast forward to last week, when I found out that my current EDJ made the very unethical decision to terminate someone after finding their TT account. Not because of outlandish claims or questionable morals or ethics. No. This determination was made after the person in question made a video flying the bird. Yeah. First amendment be damned, right?

Needless to say, I opted to once again delete any IRL social media accounts I had. I have also made the decision to not only cut back on any personal information that I share through my social media accounts, but I am also being more proactive to ensure that anything dealing with my IRL, personal life is only made available to specific friends and family on all of my accounts.

While I am loathe to do this, it is the only way I can protect myself from any potential backlash. I will say that in 2024, it is utterly ridiculous that I am still forced to choose between my constitutional right to free speech and self expression, the author brand I have spent over 20 years building up, and an EDJ that (half-ass) pays the bills.