Susy,
I hope that maybe it does work out for you that it can become a family hobby. Our son who is 12 now has enjoyed pin trading with us on trips for a number of years now. My wife Suzi is still the best with spotting those great cast lanyards with interesting pins, but our son Tony does his fair share of trading on our trips.
I know a lot of people who were doing pins and then moved on, but it is still popular with us and plenty of other Disney pin collectors and traders. We have a whole separate pin gallery now with thousands of pins on display and as I have posted here on the Collector's board will be hosting a pin meet in our pin gallery on February 10th. We usually have a good number of interested people who come and join us for some fun. It is too bad that we are on the total opposite side of the country because if you enjoy checking out the pin carts you would definitely enjoy seeing all of our pins that are on display.
As far as what is popular, many of the types of pins that were popular before are often ones that are popular today. Some pins of several years ago have even found more interest with the steady stream of new traders who are just getting started.
Again, it is great to see your posts and hear from you here on the Collectors board!