Sort of ... we weren't exactly close; acquaintances might be a better way to describe it. But it's been twice now that I cut off contact with someone I knew IRL because they pressured me into staying quiet in public about stuff I want to discuss.
One was this guy from a dumpster diving group on Facebook; he also runs a fortnightly board game thing in person that I went to regularly. I was having a (civil) discussion in the dumpster diving group with another member, and he essentially DM'd me telling me to stop talking and do not reply to the other person. I felt intimidated by this so I cut off contact with him (I did message him telling him why though); it sucked that I lost some people to play game with, but I eventually found others ^^;
The other guy I met at a summer school for math; later, I posted something on social media which he had an issue with and told me as such in DMs (which is perfectly fine), but then he pressured me to delete my post, even though I was prepared to edit it to include appropriate content warnings plus his side of the argument, with his identity redacted for anonymity. We didn't have as much contact as the first guy, but this might've actually hit me harder because some other people were also having issues with the first guy while this guy seemed like a kind and intelligent person - I really thought he was more ... open-minded than this.
So ... social media bad? XD ... Nah, I'm actually glad I got them out of my life early because the Internet allowed us to display our true colours so we know early on if we'd get along, and I'm glad the Internet gave me the courage to actually tell them why I don't want to associate with them anymore. If these were to have happened in real life, I would've probably panicked and caved to the pressure, and then ghosted them because I can't tell them what our problem is to their face.
Still, this has left me with something of a fear of discussing serious topics in DMs :'D I'd much rather talk in public where neither of us can afford to be a dick without others noticing.
In general though, I'm probably more worried about abandoning others than being abandoned myself :'D I can totally see myself freezing up and not helping my friend when they're in trouble, so I'd rather not get close to anyone who would see that as a betrayal. I value openness over loyalty; I don't want my friends to always 'support' me, 'side with' me or 'stick up for' me if doing so is not true to them or their limitations. And that's why I want to be open about who I am from the get go, so I don't get stuck with someone who expects me to be loyal 
It sucks you were ghosted though, OP ... If your friend is anything like me and is afraid of private confrontations, maybe it could help to (gently) reach out to them in public? Like, make a public post saying "Hey, if you're reading this and blocked me recently, you can tell me why. If it makes you feel safer, you can reply to this post so you know I can't get mad at you without looking like a jerk. I'd like to reconcile if possible, though I understand if you'd rather not, or if you just don't see this post; in which case all the best :]"
Try not to be too emotional ("I miss you" etc), but this is something I'd probably respond well to, at least (and if they're not the kind of person who responds well to being reached out to in public; well, at least you kept their identity anonymous XD)
