I wondered what this Google Friends thing was

Miguel Helft at the New York Times has helped me understand the new Google Friends feature on my Google blog reader - and I don't like what I hear, if I understand it. Yes, I find the Google Reader very helpful to keep track of blogs by friends and colleagues. But I don't necessarily want to share that with everyone. As far as I know, though, I haven't used the Google Talk feature, so maybe I'm "safe" as Helft explains it. Has anyone else? I certainly see Helft's point that just because I might talk with someone about an article or item, that doesn't necessarily make us friends.