Leeway for spammers promoting stack exchange sites and Area 51 proposals? [duplicate]

Question

Browsing the new questions queue in English Language Learners, I see several rapid-fire questions from an account with a spam-like name:

This account is quite forthcoming about it's intent:

However, there is no visible solicitation activity besides the account name and description. Questions appear to be clear and on-topic, and they enjoy neutral to positive reception (that I can see; I am not 10k).

This is an established account (+1k rep) on four Stack Exchange sites, with +6k rep on Math.SE. As such, I am inclined to let it go where I would have otherwise flagged it.

Should this type of "passive" spam be given leeway, considering it promotes an in-network community resource in a non-disruptive manner, or is spam spam and should be treated as such?

I understand that 100% is easier than 98%, but I would like to know the community's position on this.

Answer 1

This is not spam. Users can have whatever display name they want as long as it is not offensive.

I can have such a name:

I am Shadow and I am great, vote for me now

And it won't be considered spam, even a tiny bit. Annoying maybe, but same way you can't force people to choose names you like to their children, you can't and should not force Stack Exchange users what display names to choose. Period.

Having this inside posts is a totally different matter of course, but that's not the case here.

Answer 2

The user had asked the community if it was permissible to use such a username before changing their name.

"Is it permissible to use your SE display name to advertise another SE site or Area 51 Proposal? Is this scrupulous or laudable?"

This cannot be classified as spam, because users are allowed to use any username and have freedom to write their thoughts in their "About me" as long as they are not offensive, and as long as they aren't posting spam content on any of the sites.

As you have mentioned, "there is no visible solicitation activity besides the account name and description. Questions appear to be clear and on-topic"

This is a related post on MSO with the official response on permissible avatars and profiles as per the Terms of Service of Stack Exchange

I see no reason to intervene unless:

• The person doing it is intentionally creating a disruption (which is a whole other issue)

• The parody itself is creating a disruption (please, don't be Hitler, nobody likes that)

• The person is otherwise not following the rules of the site (also a whole other issue)