I don't watch many shorts myself. More-so animated shorts if anything. I'd like to see more live-action shorts, though. New ones are made every day, just look at Vimeo's Top Shorts of the Week pages and all of their Staff Picks.
I look at shorts as a calling card: a way to market your abilities in a small and concise package, something that may be able to convince someone else that you are somebody they should be working with, or you are someone who may be deserving of a bigger budget in the near future.
Shorts are also the best way to test out a concept, like the short film for Whiplash, which you can watch on the Blu-ray for the film. Some shots from the short were also used in the actual film. But the short had a good budget behind it, and was only made a few years before the film. So unlike people in my position, or some of your positions, the Whiplash short was done specifically as a way to garner interest in a feature film based on the short's premise.
Shorts can obviously serve as an "in the meantime" ongoing project as well. Like say you are holding down a job, maybe it's related to film, and maybe it isn't. You aren't a director yet, and no one is going to hire you as a director for quite some time. So, "in the meantime," you can create a new short film every once in a while in order to keep your filmography/resume growing and updating, you can continue practicing your skills, and maybe one of those films will get you the chance to direct a project that actually pays up front.
The main reason people make shorts is for every other reason but money or a specific size of audience. I think we all hope we can get an audience, and we all hope our shorts can either make us some money or win us some awards. But honestly, it seems like we all just do it to express ourselves, to improve in our understanding of filmmaking, and as an excuse to get out there and network. And there's nothing wrong with that, so long as you have the time to do it, and you have the ability to raise the budget you need, whether it be a small or large budget.