I think it's deliberate and it could be quite harmful. Someone who knew your real name and was thinking of messaging you out of work could have thought you'd be

I think it's deliberate and it could be quite harmful. Someone who knew your real name and was thinking of messaging you out of work could have thought you'd be lonely or stressed and seen it and figured you were feeling fine, and not bothered to reach out. This could have been the difference between a strong friendship and falling completely out of touch. They shouldn't mess with people like that! The person doing it deliberately (if I'm right) probably didn't think of the harm. If it was accidental they should have deleted it right away. Best of luck, both in finding a new job and maintaining connections/friendships from this job! I have seen you on HN a lot and am surprised to see you let go. Chalk that up to the halo effect and years of corporate culture programming me to think that productive people are seldom let go.