No. There WERE other ways to contribute. Example: "Yeah, I really like [FAST FOOD RESTARUANT]'s food." The reason it got suppressed, as I said, is because of it being considered "pointless".
No, that is not how it works. Just because a post "contributes to the conversation" (which is debatable) does not mean it cannot be "pointless", and therefore, "spammy".