Drug use, bullying, coming out, eating disorders — the ARD series Schattenseite tackles a host of sensitive topics. It centers on how we handle the Internet and social media (TheColu.mn reported). On Sunday, October 26, 2025, the six‑part thriller series makes its TV premiere on Das Erste. Directly after the Tatort: Last Harvest episode, at 9:45 p.m., the first two episodes of the novel adaptation by Jonas Ems (28) will be shown. The Cologne-based YouTube star not only wrote the source material but also helped with the screenplay and even took on a small supporting role.
As a Content Creator, Ems knows both the opportunities and the hazards of digital media. On YouTube, the 28-year-old attracts nearly three million followers. The personal stories he shares with them inspired the 2019 novel. “Basically, everything that happens in Schattenseite is a slightly altered version of events that have already occurred in real life,” he reveals in an interview. Despite the criticism he and the series direct at social media, he sees a lot of positives in the platforms as well.
What inspired you to write your novel Schattenseite?
I’m regularly confronted by these topics on social media. Followers often reach out via Instagram and share their stories with me. There are even cases where pictures from school circulated and were shared without consent. I realized there wasn’t a novel that fictively tackles this theme. That inspired me to write this book. Because through my work on social media, I know that nearly every young person spends time online, but there’s a lack of awareness about it and not enough stories told about it.
Is Schattenseite based on true stories that people told you?
Yes. Essentially everything that happens in Schattenseite is a modified version of events that have actually occurred.
Which topics were especially important to you in Schattenseite?
What mattered most to me was the question: what does it do to us that our smartphones know so much about us? Probably more than our parents or our closest friends. Everything we do has some online footprint. It starts in forums where people seek information or help—for instance when someone is dealing with an eating disorder. Even a secret romance can be visible on the phone. Everything happens through the Internet—via chat histories, through photos stored in the cloud. I asked myself: could coming clean be liberating? Maybe, at the end of the day, it’s important to trust someone and not keep everything to yourself. The courage to confide was, for me, a central theme. The protagonists in the series didn’t have that courage; instead, they’re compelled to reveal themselves. But the message is that it might be healthy to open up early, before things escalate.
How did you end up with a small side role yourself?
That was actually the production’s wish. They thought it would be nice if the author of the book could appear in a small role. I’m happy to have contributed, so a character in the series was created that doesn’t exist in the book.
As a content creator, you have tons of videos and images online. Have you ever regretted any of them?
No. I’d say I sometimes regret videos where I feel I didn’t research something thoroughly enough. For several years now, I’ve focused my videos on animal welfare and other socially critical topics. It’s important to me that my content has substance. Since I post a video on YouTube every week, sometimes details aren’t perfectly accurate or well researched. That annoys me. But I’ve thankfully never uploaded something I would regret as seriously as I might regret Schattenseite. I hope that won’t happen.
Direct link | Official trailer for the series
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On social media, books are getting more popular. What do you think of the BookTok phenomenon?
I think it’s fantastic. Even though Schattenseite and my own videos take a critical view of digital media, I also see a lot of positives in the platforms. BookTok is a great example of how online communities can form. I love the idea that more young people are reading books again, after losing access to reading over the years. Using social media to exchange ideas is a wonderful thing, and I think it can be very helpful. Of course, there are genres that deserve critical scrutiny, but I generally think BookTok is wonderful.
The ending of Schattenseite is quite open. Is there a chance for a follow‑up?
Yes, there’s definitely a chance. It will come down to enough people watching the series so that the platform orders a second season. I can say that I’d absolutely love to develop a second season. That’s why it ends so open. I had left room for a second part when I wrote the novel, and I never ended up writing it. So a second season would have to be developed from scratch.
