Kajeet, a pay-as-you-go cell phone carrier that recently signed a deal with Nickelodeon, is now joining forces with virtual world Whyville to offer "tweens" a new way to talk to each other.

We'll leave it to MediaPost to explain the new chat service:

"At the Kajeet Chat Factory in Whyville, tweens use 'clams' they have earned by playing educational games in-world, to purchase and design unique chat bubbles. By allowing them to choose different colors, borders, and dialogue styles, the company encourages personalization of one of Whyville's most popular features--chatting."

The reason for the partnership is being able to market to 8 to 15 year olds - the age range of Whyville's 2 million current users, according to MediaPost.

Cell-Phone Provider Kajeet Goes To Whyville To Reach Tweens [MediaPost]