The journalist and author reflects on the death of Twitter, his friendly rivalry with Louis Theroux, and tells his legendary Keith Richards story

If you could have learned one lesson earlier on in your life, what would it have been?

Don’t tweet. I remember right at the beginning of Twitter – and this is really indiscreet, so I hope the parties involved won’t mind – but I remember Matt Stone from South Park said to me, “Look at Lena Dunham. She’s got this incredible show on HBO. She’s can express herself in these beautiful ways on HBO. And then she goes and fucks it all up on Twitter.” And I agree. People who are able to write for a living shouldn’t fuck it all up on Twitter.

Jon Ronson is speaking in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Wellington, 20-26 November.