My view...
Hi Glenn.
In short:
I know exactly what you mean and I'm going through it too.
Longer version:
Glenn, you and I knew each other primarily from another photography forum - where I now am an Admin - before we ended up bumping into each other here too
To one degree or another I come here, Nikon Cafe, Photo Camel, Canadian-Photographer, DCRP and dpreview (these days I mostly just come here and Can. Photog.) I started off my online photography forum life in 2004 at dpreview and DCRP while adding others over the years. I certainly have found that my level of forum activity ebbs and flows over the course of a given season and sometimes over a longer period of time. The pendulum swings from one extreme where I feel I'm really overdoing it in terms of the hours I spend on the forums (and you get that "feeling") to the other extreme where I abandon it almost completely (and you get another type of "feeling").
Due to recent (serious) health problems that started last July, I had a dramatic decrease in both my picture taking and photography forum activity. In mid-December the worst of it was over but I'm going to be dealing with the fall out for the rest of my life (manageable now but scared the hell out of me!) After that experience, frankly I've found that spending more time with my wife, 8 yr. old son, 6 yr. old daughter, other family and friends was just a more fulfilling way to spend my time as opposed to banging away on the keyboard. No doubt there is a place for a person's online forum activity in the mix of their life but like with anything, a healthy balance is required.
In general photography forums are filled with "gear heads" (please note that I said "in general"). In my opinion professional photographers are out earning a living and taking pictures, and practicing and enjoying their craft. I doubt they have a ton of time to spend arguing about if the D300s or the D7000 is the better crop sensor camera!
Part of my reasoning in terms of my participating ebbing from time to time is that really, how many times can I talk about the same photography/gear related questions? Which camera should I buy? Which lens should I get? DX or FX? JPEG or RAW? When will the next new camera/lens be coming? Should I buy now and wait for the latest and greatest?
Please understand that I'm not putting down anyone who asks these questions (heck I've asked many versions of these myself over the years) it's just that it gets a bit old. However I would be dishonest to say that the photography topics themselves were keeping me away - they really aren't the main reason at all - it has far more to do with what I described about essentially finding a better balance in my life. Lately I find that I'm doing more reading (just finished the Stieg Larsson trilogy! - amazing books!) - I forgot how mentally relaxing it is to get lost in a good book.
Anyway, sorry to prattle on, this is just my personal view of the issue you've raised. Hopefully we'll get through it together! LOL!
Great thread topic Glenn.