I think its because salsa has a reputation for being more flirty and sizzling in its vibe. There's a bit more hip movement (sexy) in it than swing dancing which tends to get more bouncy and ridiculously fun without having an automatic flirtatious vibe.
For swing, I go to a social dance hall every friday night where they do a 1 hour lesson that starts with the basic steps of Jitterbug swing, then goes into a combination of 2-3 different moves. I've been going for 6 months and have only gotten the same lesson twice. It allows the more experienced dancers to continue learning while even the first timers have a good time learning to dance.
Everyone dances with everyone in a huge circle, rotating partners every couple of steps to get a feel for how to lead/follow the different moves with each new person.
A big crowd of more experienced dancers comes in towards the end of the lesson and waits for the dance party to begin 
Ever since the first lesson I've gone on my own each time. I meet new people each week and over time started to recognize the regulars. You'll end up knowing a TON of people by face but not name, and nobody holds it against you because they're experiencing that too.
I never brought a wing, and I suspect bringing a wing may help your game, but hinder how quickly you learn to dance.
I met my girlfriend there, she's been dancing for about 3 years, where I just got into it recently. I wasn't a very good lead until she went to france for a month. Without someone I could rely on to talk to and dance with I would get kinda lonely. So to counteract it I just never left the dance floor. As soon as a song was over I would thank my follower and ask another girl to dance. I asked all the hottest girls there to dance and it was a huge confidence booster.
At this dance hall they also offer more advanced swing lessons on tuesday nights and argentine tango (1) on monday nights. I signed up for a months worth of both.
The tuesday crowd turned out to be all the college aged regulars who own the dance floor on friday nights! I've gotten a lot better as a dancer from just two months of those lessons and now have girls I've danced with coming back to me later in the night to ask me to dance. And it impressed the hell out of my girlfriend when she got back from France.
Each dance studio and dance scene is going to be different, you just gotta pay attention to the social scene and figure out who's who and what's what. Just love dancing and you'll figure everything out from there
1: Argentine Tango at my local dance hall has more of an older crowd. I'm usually the youngest person there by about 10-15 years. More people came as couples and stayed together for the whole thing than swing. The leading is REALLY intense and incredible. Tango is such an incredibly seductive dance, but I'm not sure how well its geared towards pickup. Swing (or salsa) seems better for that to me.
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