Two researchers at the University of Massachusetts has just published an interesting study documenting that small business is far along the learning curve in awareness and usage of social media.

In their summary report, The Hype is Real: Social Media Invades the Inc. 500 Eric Mattson and Nora Ganim Barnes report that 42% of the Inc. 500 companies they interviewed claim to be “very familiar” with tools like social networks, blogs and podcasts. A third of the companies use message boards and one in five blogs.

Perhaps the biggest news is that 26% of the small businesses say social media is “very important” to their business/marketing strategy. With less than 5% of the Fortune 500 blogging, you can assume that small businesses are way out front in this area.

Updates and analysis to the survey of 121 members of the Inc. 500 list will be published as the year goes along.