Question: I find myself using these words *all the time*. 

Now (<-- there's one!), to be clear the context I'm using them is in conversational style writing, on social commentary, or in forum posts like these. It's not formal academic writing, and it's not story telling. (In a fictional story, these words would be perfectly appropriate if used by a character). 

Here's an example where I've used it recently:

> 
> Point four, I think it is realistic that people would have this interpretation. **So** on this point I'll just stress that this blog post is not intended to be malicious or make anyone feel bad. It's more an interesting exploration of social interaction and how best react and navigate it. 
> 
> 
> 

My question is - is this actually an effective writing style, in the sense of being easy to read and persuasive, and if not, how do I get around it?

Answer: 
Words like 'therefore', 'hence', can be used to replace "so". For replacing the adverb "anyways", there are many expressions and phrases that are able to be used in such a context such as: 'at any rate', 'in any case', 'at any manner', 'anyhow'. 

As for effectiveness, it is somewhat effective to use such words as 'so', in moderation. Your whole text should not be filled with 'so'. 

An effective way to use this is:

> 
> **Therefore**, on this point, I'll just stress that this blog post is not intended to be malicious or make anyone feel bad.
> 
> 
> 

Best of luck on your blog post!
You could have arguments on either side about this idea.
Some people will argue that using these words, as you say, will give the writing a more conversational style and make the audience feel more comfortable. I believe that this can be an appropriate style of writing for blogs, especially as they are known to be a more casual style of writing than articles written for other publications.

However, in another world of writing, the editor's eye look for any words which do not contribute to the whole of the work. Any 'so's, 'anyway's, or 'Well's (unless you mean that someone is doing well) will be strictly cut. These words have the reader take time to read something which will not contribute to their understanding of the article's meaning.