hmmm.. I just realised I didn't actually answer the questions
I'd say it depends on the actual friendship. I have online friends to whom I give more priority than real life friends and vice versa.
I see my online friends as equals to those in real life in the time I afford them, and the way I care about them. It's hard for those who haven't forged those types of friendships to understand, and my real life friends are bound to be the ones who say to me "she is just an online person you know, not a friend as such".