I think some used it for shock value in the past to get attention, although I think most people have become desensitized to it by now. I think some use it to make their writing “gritty” or “tough” or “raw” or “real.”

But we all know that guy who uses an F-bomb as an adverb or adjective in every single sentence. It has no meaning then, and is just annoying (to me.) I worked a blue collar job for 27 years with a cast of hundreds and there is literally nothing I haven’t heard. “Profanity” was used extensively. It was elevated into an art form.

But I still prefer not to use “profanity” myself, or hear certain “swear words” (“whose original meaning is hard to pinpoint.”) It’s my personal choice. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned.