Secondly, I'm making a subtle point - when I started with the company he lied about his name and called himself "John Snow". I only found out it was a lie months later.
I also want to protect the anonymity of my friend Ian.
I also want to protect myself (legally) if he ever read it
I absolutely understand anonymising however my point was that providing links in your profile risks undermining the purpose behind this anonymisation.
Further from a legal perspective using a pseudonym to refer to a person doesn't necessarily protect you if it would be clear to some readers who the person is that you're referring to. Having links in the profile would increase this risk.
It sounds like you should be proud. From a risk perspective, I can't say that simply removing the links removes all risk, it only reduces the risk. Anyone reading the account and knowing the guy in question may be able to identify that you are referring to him.
It is obviously a sad state of affairs where the merest risk of someone objecting to the content of a post could have a stifling effect on publication (edit - especially where the contents are on the face of it completely truthful). However, the unfortunate reality is that even becoming embroiled in legal action (even where the person taking action is on flimsy grounds) can be costly and time-consuming. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of the possible consequences.
Secondly, I'm making a subtle point - when I started with the company he lied about his name and called himself "John Snow". I only found out it was a lie months later.
I also want to protect the anonymity of my friend Ian.
I also want to protect myself (legally) if he ever read it