PSFK UK has some goods on the highlights of the Ypulse Tween Mashup held recently here in New York. Speakers from Stardoll (shown), Cartoon Doll Emporium and Whyville all had one thing in common -- their young 'tween users actually demand branding in their virtual worlds.

Apparently, Stardoll now features "StarPlaza," where its users can shop for designer duds for their paper doll-like avatars. Although Whyville features user-generated designs, not brand labels, Whyville CEO Jim Bower recounts how some even feature the influence of brands like M&M.

All of the eyes and ears of kids' virtual worlds notice that kids actively want to flaunt their favorite brands to their friends in virtual worlds, and providing more in-world branding opportunities to marketers is just as much providing a service to its users as it is offering ad space to the clothing labels or snack food brands. It makes sense -- that age group behaves that way in the real world, experimenting with new ways of expressing and defining themselves, and sharing that with others.