user name mention notifications happen when user name is mentioned without any qualifying prefix/suffix

[Be-ing]

Describe the bug

My Matrix user name is simply be, which is a common English word. Element triggers a notification anyone uses my user name, which is almost always not actually trying to send a message to me. This makes notifications from Matrix clients basically unusable. User name mentions should only trigger a notification with an appropriate prefix such as @ or a suffix such as :.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Use a common word as a user name
2. Be annoyed by a bunch of irrelevant notifications

Expected behavior
I should only be notified by messages specifically directed at me.

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Fedora 33
• Browser: Firefox
• Version: 84.0.2

Additional context
I reported this first on the Element Web tracker and they directed me here.

[uhoreg]

FYI, in Element, you can turn off notifications for "Messages containing my display name" and "Messages containing my username". This will stop notifications when someone just writes "be", but will still notify you when someone writes your full Matrix ID.

It isn't quite what you're asking for (you won't get notified when someone writes @ be, but should remove a lot of your annoyance.

[weeman1337]

@uhoreg I have tested this. Like you explained switchting it off disables all notifications including the "@" ones. This isn't an option for me because then I am missing "@" mentions.

In many highly acitve rooms I have disabled notifications except "mentions & keywords".

[richvdh]

related: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/1549

[richvdh]

I think being notified when a message contains "be" is expected behaviour if your username is "be" and you have "messages containing my username" enabled. The fact that you then aren't pinged by @mentions is covered by matrix-org/matrix-spec#353.

Certainly this stuff is a total mess, and it pains me that we've not had the time to rework it.