It has a lot to do with location too. What might be highly offensive and politically incorrect in the states would be hilarious in Britain. (I won't mention the word, it's too risky!) Allow me to give my tuppence from a British point of view.
I don't know about the states, but every generation from 1950 and onward has swore for some reason. It could be the breakdown of morals, corruption of family values, heroin addicts and other you-heard-this-from-Fox-news-first excuses. I don't think there's anyone to blame except media outlets. You couldn't say 'bum' on television in 1974, and 'bottom' was also a big deal. Can you imagine the absolute outrage when a member of the Sex Pistols sat down for a television interview and told the presenter "You fucking rotter"? Nowadays, there's swearing in music on the radio, on TV, on the internet, often in newspapers - it goes on and on and on, all because of changes in culture, and nobody gives a toss. Eventually, we might find using the english language strange. We might all be using SMS lingo in ten years time.
It's difficult to remember where you are on the internet. Sometimes you're the only British guy in an American forum, sometimes it's the other way around. We have different customs, swearing - amongst other things - is one of them, and for whatever reason, American peoples find these customs very curious indeed.
Still, I can respect the fact some people don't like swearing, and I can live with censors - it's just 'd**n' isn't really that much of a huge swear word thesedays, like in the same way 'bum' was naughty back in the seventies, but doesn't even register now. At least, not on my radar.
