Honestly, I've been watching YouTube for almost 10 years, which is insane, but it was a good time because that's when some of the best YouTubers got started. I grew up watching Pewdiepie and Jenna Marbles and stupid videos like "Charlie bit my finger" and "Charlie the Unicorn", just to name a few, but the YouTube scene has changed a lot in that time and so has my taste in videos. I've switched over to Markiplier, Simply Nailogical, and Claire Siobhan - though Jenna has never stopped being fun to watch.
One of my favorite YouTubers though, the only one who's merch I've ever bought, is Shane Dawson. When I finally got back into YouTube after a long time away from my everyday watching, I found myself back on Shane's channel after a while. I used to love Shane's music and was down for stupid videos mixed with a few creepy ones, which is what Shane was putting out at the time. Shane's channel has taken another turn in the last year or so, but a really awesome turn though. Shane has been really putting out what he came to YouTube to do in the first place, I think.
It really started with his videos with young singer/songwriter Sophie Pecora. He has since expanded and done more. He switched lives with Trisha Paytas, had a taste of what it's like being blind with Molly Burke, explored the reasons behind the fall of grav3yardgirl's channel, dug into the failure of Tanacon, and, most recently, brought us into the world of Jeffree Star. All of these series have been absolutely mind-blowing and phenomenal because Shane is an open, caring, honest man who people aren't afraid to open up to and knows how to tell a story that is both truthful and engaging. That's not why we're here, though.
Shane's newest series is "The Mind of Jake Paul". When Shane first started working with other big YouTubers for these docuseries, he mentioned that he wanted to step inside the mind of someone like Jake Paul. Also for a while now, Shane has been talking about the possibility of doing a video on whether YouTubers, in general, are sociopaths. Unbeknownst to us, he had actually been working to put the sociopath series into motion when he got the message from Jake saying that he'd work with Shane. After Shane's announcement, Twitter blew up. People were telling Shane not to give Jake a "redemption arc" and were calling him a sociopath and other things along those same lines. Shane, of course, saw this as a perfect connection and has taken the time to explore the two as one series in a way.
Video one is just Shane exploring the concept, laying out all the information for us, chatting with iNabber to learn more about and catch up on Jake - because he's 30 and hasn't been watching him, honestly - and attempting to lay out a plan for himself. Video one is really great for those of us who aren't Jake Paulers or drama trolls and don't keep up with what YouTube's least favorite brothers are up to.
Video two was what really hooked me into the series. Shane sat down with therapist Kati Mortin under the pretense of learning more about sociopaths for the aforementioned series. They make some connections to YouTubers in general before Shane finally asks her about Jake and tells her what he'll be doing. They make plans for her to accompany him over to the Team 10 house to meet with Jake and observe him.
After video two came out, Logan Paul tweeted that he'd be making a response video. Shane messaged him and Logan responded that he didn't feel that his brother is a sociopath, but that Logan is on the sociopath spectrum and has sociopathic tendencies, which was absolutely insane.
Shane is taking a look into Jake's family and those who've left Team 10 just to see what else he can truly find out about Jake before meeting and interviewing him, which is so fascinating. It almost lets you see a side of YouTube that we never get to see and everyone who's a YouTube fan should be watching.
