Of course, "over a beer in a pub" is a facetious comment, designed to be at the opposite end of the scale to MO. In actual fact, I don't drink beer (beyond the odd bottle of jule øl) and haven't been to a pub for a very long time (at least, not to drink). So "over a beer in a pub" is not meant to be taken too seriously.

To expand a little on my point, what I'm trying to say is that an anecdote cannot exist in and of itself and therefore cannot be an answer to a question. Without wider context, anecdotes are useless. The point of the pub setting was that the anecdote can be shared in the context of a wider discussion where it would make sense. Anecdotes are useful when they illustrate a general point, or provide a counterbalance to a sweeping generalisation. In a conversation, whether in a pub, over lunch, or in an online forum, the anecdote appears as part of a longer and more detailed argument. That doesn't work on MO. In addition, if the discussion in which the anecdote appears is "live" or is laid out clearly in the order it took place, it is easier for the "audience" to follow. Again, on MO that isn't easy to do.

I find your last (non parenthetical) sentence interesting:

Formal communications are more fair and easier to find for everyone.

I agree! But MO does not match my idea of a system of "formal communications". In this situation, I feel that either an issue is too trivial to be worth recording on MO or is too important to be wasted by being recorded on MO. In particular, in the latter someone may feel that by putting their anecdote "in the public domain" by putting it on MO then they have achieved something. Tvert imot! They have achieved nothing because very few of the people who needed to know will have read it.

To completely twist Screwtape here, something (anecdotal) that is important enough to put in an answer to this question is actually too important to put in an answer to this question.

To put the knife in, I as a reader of these anecdotal answers cannot judge their importance and therefore they are useless to me. If they were used as illustrations of a well-reasoned and well-laid out text that set out all the possibilities with careful judgement as to how to act, I would know how to use them. As it is, I think it does more harm than good to have them here on MO.

(Incidentally, I'll happily buy the first round at that pub; but clearly I've been over-using the "over a beer at a pub" phrase. I'll try to think of a better one next time.)

An excellent point well put.

Best wishes,

Matt

I've left a comment requesting that people confine themselves to reference-style answers and not anecdotes.

(This brings to mind something I've pondered for a bit: an SE site devoted to academic teaching. It would be for academics trying to find out how to become better at the teaching side of their job, but who find it a little tricky to wade through the education literature and to translate the theory in to action.)