Shane Lee Yaw (born July 19, 1988), known professionally as Shane Dawson, is an American YouTuber. He became one of the first people to rise to fame on the video-sharing platform YouTube. In 2008, at age 19, Dawson began making videos on YouTube and garnered over half a billion views by 2010. Most of his early work consisted of sketch comedy videos, where he would play original characters, impersonate celebrities and make light of popular culture. Some of these impressions later drew criticism for their offensive content, including racial stereotypes.