I personally go in and out with it. Sometimes I'm just bored, overwhelmed with it, want to turn my mind off. I stopped for a while when I lived somewhere that had virtually no shops, and took me a while to get back into it when I moved again. I found mostly it was hard to catch up with who was still around, who ceased, who bought who, and who shopped the new area.
I periodically take a month or two hiatus after something really pisses me off. Ridiculous editor, etc. I say "I'm done, this is ridiculous" but usually come back eventually.