My college roommate Anne is also in library school, attending at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. We've been comparing notes all through graduate school, having both had the same undergraduate background, to see how things are different. We also compare our jobs, both working part-time at public libraries.
At Anne's library, they have a clear cut policy: in-person patrons always come before digital ones. Tell the person on IM to wait while you help another customer. Be polite, but always service the ones that made the physical effort first. Since they made the effort, you should too.
My library isn't as clear-cut as Anne's though, and we've spent a lot of time talking about it. I like that I can do things on a case-by-case basis as I see fit, but sometimes I'm not sure what to do. Maybe it's better to have a set policy to always follow so that time doesn't have to be spent making the decision... but I think I like getting to choose for myself. If you have an online patron that only needs a little more information, it seems more efficient to wrap that up and then go on to the next person. It's easier to make someone not standing there in person wait though, as well. I go back and forth on this topic, and just will basically follow the policy in place wherever I get a job, as best I can.
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