When does an acronym take on a life of its own, with its own nuances and true meaning?

When people say "WTF" dozens of times a day in text, chat, Facebook, etc., does it really have the same effect as an F-bomb? When I read WTF, I get a whole different impression than if the same person had written the actual F-bomb.

Technically WTF originally stood for What the F***  

But if someone wrote that out, it would have a WHOLE DIFFERENT EFFECT than writing the usual, casual, WTF. In fact, even writing out What the F*** has a MUCH more powerful effect (jarring, like when you hear someone cuss) on the reader.

It's an abstraction.  Like saying "What the heck". We all know what you mean, but you've avoided using a cuss word so you can say it in front of kids.

How much more so, saying three innocent letters? Whiskey, Tango and Foxtrot? I would argue it's not cussing at all, and completely sanitizes the original expression, to the point that it's downright acceptable/polite to use it.

Again, when someone writes "WTF" in a chat transcript that you're reading out loud to someone, you ARE NOT to read out the original words this "abbreviation word" stood for. Unless you're an older person acting in a comedy movie, or some other situation where comedy is desired. When people write WTF they are NOT necessarily ready, prepared, or in the mood to cuss. They are not intending to cuss.

When people end every other sentence with "LOL", are they really intending to say "LAUGH OUT LOUD" after each sentence? No, they're saying "lol" as a way to say "I'm trying to soften this sentence, I'm not mad, I might even be smiling." It's called language, and it's organic.

If "literally" can come to mean "figuratively", then language users can also invent an acronym (or any other word!) that takes on an entirely new meaning and nuance from the original source.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-teacher-allegedly-writes-wtf-is-this-on-students-homework

It's a fascinating topic, to be sure. The Church understands that language changes and that it has an organic sort of dynamism to it on account of its cultural influences. That's why she has a universal, "dead" language much less susceptible to the ebbs and flows of the collective will.
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As far as profanity in its varying degrees, we might think of expressions like "Gee whiz" (something I use pretty often) or "gosh", both of which stand in for blasphemy and impiety-- buy neither of which actually are blasphemous or impious. 

Same. In my circle and from what I've observed, people who don't mind using the F-Bomb also freely use the acronym. Others who would never cuss will also refrain from using the acronym. I think a lot of it depends on how desensitized a person is.

I must be an older person in a comedy because I always read/"hear" the words the acronym stands for rather than the actual letters of the acronym. So I do not see some of them as acceptable, polite or innocent and probably never will. But I can see that maybe other people's minds don't work that way and they truly just see letters without the original meaning. I'm skeptical, but I'll agree that it's possible.

Yes, I second everything you said.  8)

I thought than when people use "LOL" they do not intend too verbally say "laughing out loud", but are describing their reaction since we can not see them laugh or hear them laugh. But as you say, it does seem that it's repeated use is more a way to soften the message.
Whereas as "WTF", is not describing what they are doing but what they are speaking.

Yes, it's an expression rather than a "virtual behavior", but both are used casually and flippantly in chat, with no real meaning intended. If it takes X anger or frustration to say the f-bomb, it takes 1/100th that amount of "feeling" to tap out "WTF" on  your phone. People just don't use it the same way as the original phrase. It's completely watered down.