1. A method for updating contact information, comprising: receiving at a server computer a request from a user member to update contact information for one or more contacts in a contact information folder for the member, said request received over the Internet; searching for the one or more contacts in a universal address book stored in a service database of the server computer to determine whether each of the contacts is a member or non-member of a service provider maintaining the server computer; generating a first update request message for each of the one or more contacts who are determined to be members; generating a second update request message for each of the one or more contacts who are determined not to be members; sending each first update request message using a private protocol; and sending each second update request message using a public protocol, wherein each update request message requests that the recipient provide updated contact information.