There isn’t always a difference between emotion and emoticon in the digital age, but not all friendships are created equal Many years ago – when I was just starting out as a writer – I interviewed the grand doyenne of consumer feminism, the late Helen Gurley Brown. After a fairly intimate hour-long conversation in her uptown New York offices, she said as we parted ways, in the most joyously pressing way: “And now we will be friends.