The author, actor and moderator Ilja Richter keeps his hands off social media platforms. "I don't talk to people on the Internet who either like me or don't like me," Richter told the German Press Agency in Berlin before his 70th birthday this Thursday (November 24). "Before I know it, I may have to deal with shitstorms."

Richter sees good reasons for his abstinence. "It saves me a lot of trouble, maybe I'll miss a certain amount of fun, that may be so. But I have so much fun with so many things that I don't want to test it."

Although Richter regularly publishes a column on the Internet, he says he does not monitor social networks. "I take note of what I am told."

Richter, who presented the music show "Disco" from 1971 to 1982, can't even imagine the then very young presenter on social media. "Young Ilja Richter was even more old-fashioned than he is now."

His conservative image at the time also resulted from his outfit. In the hippie-influenced 1970s, Richter presented his music show in a suit, shirt and tie. "The suit was my combat suit," judge judged. "I suffered from the fact that many leftists believed I was right-wing because I was wearing a suit."