For children too young for Second Life but too old for WeeWorld, a Canadian company has launched an online virtual world that promises Internet safety and positive reinforcement. Its name? BunkiMunki.

The tagline, “Unlock the power of happiness,” features a key, and the site encourages children to buy the BunkiMuni keys to wear as jewelry, so they can recognize fellow Munkis on the street.

Tween, one of those irritating “mash-up” words like Frolf and bromance, refers to children between about 8 to 14 years old, some of what used to be known as the pre-teen years. Tweens are a lucrative market, spending upwards of $40 billion annually, the largest amount in video games, footwear, and impulse buys, researchers say. Experts say the mobile phone market for tweens is growing too, with more than 75 percent carrying phones now.

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With the economy still in a precarious state, it would seem crazy to pay money for nothing. But consumers, social gamers, and others are making the sales of virtual goods a robust business. Companies and social media sites are using virtual goods – whether sold or given away to users for free – as a way of building brand awareness and loyalty.

According to the New York Times, Volvo Cars of North America, H&M, and MTV Networks are some of the companies are using these “items” to engage with consumers.

Besides the info about virtual goods, this story reminds us about Second Life, which, in case you didn’t realize it, is still up and running. According to the story, “Initially, virtual goods buyers in the United States were typically playing in online fantasy worlds like Second Life and IMVU, which generate nearly $1 billion annually from player purchases of furniture, homes, clothing and accessories for their online avatars.”

Exclusive: A source tells PRNewser that Linden Lab, creators of 3D virtual world Second Life, has selected Edelman as the company’s agency of record. Reached for comment, Catherine Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications at Linden Lab, said the company “has worked with LEWIS PR in the US and several international markets since 2006. We’ve recently completed an agency review, but are not ready to announce any changes to our agency of record at this point.”

The source said the contract is worth $1 million. Linden Lab declined to comment on the figure. Edelman could not immediately be reached for comment.

On November 4th, Linden Lab launched Second Life Enterprise, “a version of its virtual-world software,” which sells for $55,000, reported PC Magazine. The company has approximately 250 employees worldwide, is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Singapore, Virginia, Brighton (UK), Boston, Seattle, Mountain View and Davis, CA. CEO Mark Kingdon joined the company in May 2008. He was previously CEO of digital marketing agency Organic, Inc.