Jackdaw - // There is nothing wrong with the use of the word 'so' to continue a conversation confirming what the previous speaker had said, and I fail to see why a-h gets his Alans in a Brahms over it. //
There is no problem with that.
The problem is with NOT confirming what the previous speaker has said, but saying something they did not say, and then falling out with them about what they did not say.
That is usually prefaced with the word 'So ...' which is shorthand for 'So what you're saying is … ' followed by something that is not what the poster is saying, and then arguing that they are wrong.
Clearly that is bad debating, and my pointing it out is simply a light-hearted way of making the point - nothing more than that.
As I always say, if people don't like it, then stop doing it, and I will obviously have no need to point it out.