copying someone else's post: People tend to complain about aren't things they talk about because they're new, but because they're widespread. Oftentimes the histories go quite a long way back as they gained more and more popularity. We even have records of people who decried the usages of their time, including many which seem silly today, such as stating that "The church is being built" is an abomination; we should use "The church is building".

"He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies." - The History of Emily Montague by Francis Brooke, 1769

"We had been literally rocked in our bed." - Sanditon by Jane Austen, 1817

"Lily, the caretaker’s daughter, was literally run off her feet." -Dubliners by James Joyce, 1914

These are literary usages as well; the usages that are written in books are often preceded by quite a long history of vernacular usages before they're seen formal enough to be used in print.

No different than the word "really", which used to mean the same damn thing. If the person said really instead of literally you likely wouldn't of batted an eye.

This isn't going away, this usage of literally has been in literature for hundreds of years.