Buying decisions are increasingly in the will of the Web, according to new research by Gartner.

Jeremiah Owyang, Forrester analyst whose Tweet alerted me to this research has given the findings a broad thumbs up, which is a recommendation in itself.

In fact, the research suggests that by 2012, half of what we buy - including offline purchases - will be directly affected by the Internet in the form of seeking recommendations on blogs, comparing prices, etc. We may end up buying from a bricks and mortar outlet, but the impetus will have come from from the digital world.

But, as the article from Gartner goes on, companies should beware of rushing headlong into using online social networks as part of the business plan in the belief that just being there will generate sales.

Still, Gartner predicts a flourishing of Web-based customer communication in any recession as a cost-effective way of keeping relationships alive. 

Figures from Nielsen Online reported on Mashable show Twitter to be taking off like nobody’s business, with users growing 422% on last year and sticking around on the site for 7 minutes on average (a veritable lifetime online).

Still, Jeremiah Owyang refers to this (unsurprisingly via Twitter itself) that in the context of social media networks, Twitter’s 2.3m users is small beer when compared to the hulking 100m registered Facebook users.

So, as a Twitterer myself, I now know what it feels like to be in an official minority and a growing one at that. Makes you want to pick up a placard and demand your rights!

 STOP PRESS: Robert Scoble (again, on Twitter) says he’s seen Twitter “all over CNN”.

It’s official: the job of handling conversations online is a REAL JOB!

Social media guru, Jeremiah Owyang has started a list showing the emergence of people filling the roles of Social Computing Strategists and Community Managers in the larger corporations.

And ok, it may look US and tech industry-centric now, but the Web knows no geographical boundaries (erm, well maybe China) and the conversations about you and your business can be happening online anytime, anywhere.

The trick is knowing a) they’re out there and b) how to handle it.