The crown (or one of the other select new icons) means that your contact is a Yahoo! Messenger Power User.

Based on all the IMing they do, all the friends they keep up with, and all the features of Yahoo! Messenger they use, they’re in our top 5% of users.

We wanted to extend a “thanks” (and some rewards) for getting so much out of Messenger. So what you’re seeing is just one of the exclusive benefits Power Users get to enjoy.

If you’re interested in becoming a Power User, just keep using Yahoo! Messenger! Every so often we take a look at who’s rising to the occasion, and we add more Power Users to the program.