Are Digital Relationships Less Meaningful than Face-to-Face Contact?

Are the relationships you build remotely, where the primary mode of communication is through the internet or the phone, weaker than those you build in the flesh, where primary development comes through face-to-face contact?

I had an interesting discussion with my former professor today about the value of in-person relationships. It started off with a discussion about interacting with clients and whether the convenience and cost efficiency of giving presentations over the phone outweighed the benefits of building a better relationship with in-person contact.

While I agreed that, in the case of clients, it's much better to build a personal rapport by meeting with the client and taking him/her out to discuss things not related to the job, that might not always be the case with personal relationships. In personal relationships, both parties are supposed to be equals. One side is not supposed to be responsible for serving the other side. So does the same theory apply?

I suppose I'm somewhat biased. I've made a lot of friends via the internet through various art sites, many of whom I have not yet even met. And I feel closer to some of my online friends than I do some of the people I see almost every day. I believe it's more a matter of personality and interest matches than it is face-time.

But can these relationships be maintained solely through the internet? I feel much closer to some of the online friends that I've actually met in person. Would I feel the same way had we never had the pleasure of seeing each other in real life? It's hard to say. I would like to think that yes, I'd feel just as close, but I'm not sure that's true. I think there's a certain something that one can only take away from meeting someone. That also brings up the question, would we be even better friends if we lived closer and saw each other more often? I don't think that's a given either.

In the age of Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and others I wonder if the multiple relationships that we're all trying to maintain via those vessels are as valuable. As friends are collected like trading cards, we seem to well surpass the 150 relationships that Dunbar theorizes is the maximum number of meaningful relationships one can maintain. But how many of the hundreds upon hundreds of "friends" we all claim to have are actually relationships beyond simple acquaintances? Does the friendship dynamic change when we have the ability to simply leave an "I'm thinking of you" wall post to make it seem like we care? Does it even matter or can we just give it up to a changing of the times?