When you add a contact, what you see depends on what you enter in "Contact Details" for that contact.
To see what you've entered for a contact:
- Right-click on that contact's name in your friends list.
- Select "Contact Details."
- The information that you enter here will determine what you will see when this person goes online/offline or sends you an Instant Message.
The display information is just for you. If you enter someone's first name as "Johnny,” it doesn't mean that other people will see him/her as "Johnny" too. You'll see "Johnny" in the Instant Message window only when that person contacts you through Yahoo! Messenger.
By default, if you don't enter any contact details for a contact, you'll see the Yahoo! ID.
Similarly, what the other contacts see for you depend on what they've entered for your contact details.