Inside Fandoms

week five: shane dawson

Fun fact about Shane Dawson: he was the first YouTuber I started watching on YouTube. This was way back in 2013/4 when he was still doing comedy skits, music videos, had swoopy hair, dating Lisa, and making his mum react to all kinds of things on the Internet.

So who is Shane Dawson? Shane is a very prominent YouTuber, and has been for years, but his fame and popularity has been catapulted by his conspiracy videos on his channels and his absolutely superb, beautifully crafted documentary series about YouTubers such as Jake Paul.

He is currently dating Ryland Adams, and predominantly hangs with his 'squad' which is made up of him, Ryland, Garrett Watts, Morgan, and his cameraman Andrew (what a snacc). He shook (maybe that's a bit too far) the YouTube world when he came out as bisexual in 2015.

While he has, in my opinion, made some really amazing videos, he has also be the subject of controversy such as being accused of using blackface and 'acting ghetto' in some of his earlier skits. Shane has since apologised for his actions.

Day 1: Understanding Why

As someone who watches Shane Dawson's videos quite frequently, I already had a pretty basic understanding of why people watched his videos. But, as someone who wouldn't call themselves a fan of Shane Dawson necessarily, I wanted to know what made people feel so passionate to become part of this growing fandom.

"His channel and videos are the perfect mixture of comedy and emotion," one fan told me.

I guess we haven't really touched upon why people become fans of YouTubers in this book. YouTube is one of my favourite things to waste hours on, and I have picked up a large amount of channels which I adore.

YouTubers work on the appeal that they will make videos which will enrich your life in some way. And so, a YouTuber like Shane Dawson is appealing to an audience who not only wants to laugh, but also watch some top notch documentary making. I think unlike some channels, Shane Dawson has a very likeable persona and he feels more real than some other YouTubers.

"Well I actually became a fan of his sometime around 2010, he was doing something different and I really liked it. But over the years my reason for supporting him has changed a lot. I have pretty bad panic attacks every once and a while, but Shane's videos usually calm me down and make me happy again. So I guess it's changed in the way that it gives me a source of happiness and hope," one fan told me, which made me start to understand the magnitude of the power and reach of Shane Dawson.

I always think it's amazing how much YouTubers can change people's lives, and I began to reflect on the way that Shane Dawson has impacted my life. He definitely provided laughter when I was younger, but his more recent work has made me think a lot about the way we act and how we don't always know what is happening behind the scenes of someone's life.

Day 2: Videos

So Shane is most known right now for his documentary series; in the past he was best known for skits and all-round funny videos. He has been described as 'revolutionising' the YouTube game with his series which goes into the lives of various YouTubers and finds out the truth behind rumours, lies, etc. His most popular series to date would probably have to be his Jake Paul series.

What I think is very special about a YouTuber making a documentary of this nature is the fact that Shane has an in depth understanding of the environment these people are working and living in. The traditional media tends to not understand how YouTube works, and is quick to degrade the work these people put out.