How do people watch Shorts?

People and their Short watching...

People consume Shorts in a large variety of ways, youtube, cinema's, websites, film festivals ect.

Youtube:

It's probably the most popular way as their is a huge variety of Shorts on their and anyone can upload their Short. It is also free and easy to watch them so everyone with Internet access can watch them. As technology advances people can now watch youtube on their phones or tablets so it is also becoming a more accessible. People often watch them together with friends or watch alone and then share the link to their friends via social networking. Youtube also allows people to comment and offer feedback so a lot of amateur film makers use this as a way of getting feedback and advice from the public. 

Cinemas:

Many "art house" cinemas show a series of Shorts in one go for a small fee. The type of people that watch these are often more of the aficionado/buff section of the audience. They are more likely to go alone and want the Shorts to have more thought provoking or dark topics. The films shown here are usually student films that are nominated or upcoming film makers.

Websites:

Websites such as shortoftheweek showcase Short films that have won competitions or have been nominated ect. Again like youtube anyone with Internet access can watch these for free however they are not as popular as youtube but hold higher status if you film has been shown on them. A lot of people still watch films on these websites though, usually people with more of an interest in Shorts.

Film festivals:

People that go to these festivals will often be the same kind of people that go to watch Shorts at art house cinemas. They will watch Shorts that have been nominated to be shown and then wait to see which one is the winner. 

Best for me:

I think that youtube would be the best platform for me as it is easy, free, has a large audience and people can offer feedback easily to my film. It is also a good way to get yourself known and from their I could then attempt to enter my films into competitions to get them onto websites or in film festivals.