Editing Contact list

{{Short description|Collection of contacts or screen names}}
{{Fewreferences|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Pidgin 2.0 contact window.png|thumb|A contact list in [[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]] 2.0]]

A '''contact list''' is a collection of [[User (computing)|screen names]].<ref name=":0" /> It is a commonplace feature of [[Instant Messaging and Presence Service|instant messaging]], [[Email client]]s, online games and [[mobile phones]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Margaret |first=Rouse |date=8 December 2016 |title=What is a Contact List? - Definition from Techopedia |url=https://www.techopedia.com/definition/385/contact-list |access-date=8 December 2023 |website=Techopedia}}</ref>  It has various [[Trademark|trademarked]] and [[Brand|proprietary names]] in different contexts.<ref name=":0" />

Contacts lists' windows show screen names that represent actual other people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=contact list - English definition, grammar, pronunciation, synonyms and examples {{!}} Glosbe |url=https://glosbe.com/en/en/contact%20list |access-date=2023-12-08 |website=glosbe.com |language=en}}</ref> To communicate with someone on the list, the user can select a name and act upon it, for example open a new E-mail editing session, instant message, or telephone call. In some programs, if your contact list shows someone, their list will show yours. Contact lists for [[mobile operating system]]s are often shared among several [[mobile apps]].{{Reference needed|date=December 2023}}

Some text message clients allow users to change their display name at will, while others only allow them to reformat their screen name (add/remove spaces and capitalize letters). Generally, it makes no difference other than how it is displayed.{{Reference needed|date=December 2023}}

With most programs, the contact list can be minimized to keep it from getting in the way, and is accessed again by selecting its icon.{{Reference needed|date=December 2023}}

The style of the contact list is different with the different programs, but all contact lists have similar capabilities.{{Reference needed|date=December 2023}}

Such lists may be used to form [[social networking service|social networks]] with more specific purposes. The list is not the network: to become a network, a list requires some additional information such as the status or category of the contact.{{Reference needed|date=December 2023}} Given this, contact networks for various purposes can be generated from the list. [[Sales]]people have long maintained contact networks using a variety of means of contact including phone logs and notebooks.{{Reference needed|date=December 2023}} They do not confuse their list with their network, nor would they confuse a "sales contact" with a "friend" or person they had already worked with.{{Reference needed|date=December 2023}}

== See also ==
* [[Address_book|Address Book]]
* [[Contact manager]]
* [[vCard]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Instant messaging}}

[[Category:Instant messaging]]
[[Category:Mobile phones]]
[[Category:Text messaging]]