(image by rawpixel.com, courtesy of Freepik)
In 2011 I was between jobs and decided to design, code, publish, and administer a website and blog to replace my first amateur website published in 2001. While my original website used my actual name my new website would also include a personal blog, and as I wanted potential future employers to hire me based on my job-related skills and not my political ideology, religious beliefs, social viewpoints, or patriotism I decided to write under an alias – The MUSEman – and provide only a bare minimum of personally-identifiable information.
Unfortunately, when I finally landed a new job one of the conditions of employment – in addition to the usual full background check and drug tests – was to inform Human Resources of my online presence: Every Website and Blog I created, every Social Media site I belonged to, every Alias I used when posting comments or content, etc. If I didn’t tell them, withheld anything, or they didn’t like what they read, I wouldn’t be hired, and if employed by them could be fired without notice. Fortunately, being mature adults I knew to respect my employer’s reputation and they knew their employees had personal lives and First Amendment protection outside of work.
Well, imagine my surprise after reading what former Republican Governor and presidential candidate Nikki Haley said recently:
“…when I get into office, the first thing we have to do, social media accounts— social media companies, they have to show America their algorithms. Let us see why they’re pushing what they’re pushing. The second thing is every person on social media should be verified by their name.”
– Nikki Haley (R-SC), former Governor and Republican presidential candidate, Nov. 14, 2023
Nimrata “Nikki” Randhawa Haley might not know this but there are many reasons why people prefer to remain anonymous:
It’s Taco Tuesday, and that means it’s time for me to head to Taco Bell and 
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