It’s official – insurance companies are setting their sights on the social media realm.

After a landmark case won by Nicola Brooks, who managed to get Facebook trolls identities legally revealed, it’s become clear that social media isn’t all just posting instagramed photos of your delicious brunch and playing Draw Something with your friends. There can be real defamation of character when the trolls get geared up for war, and UK-based insurance company ALLOW has decided that people need protection.

It is the first “social media insurance” plan to hit the UK. The idea is to protect customers from “reputational damage, account jacking and other forms of ID theft.” The plan will cover the expenses for receiving legal advice and expert support.

ALLOW will offer up to £10,000  ($16,250 USD) in fees and costs for any one incident or £3,500 ($5,690 USD)  towards any reputational damage for around £3.99 ($6.50 USD) a month, and will offer new customers 30 days of free coverage.

ALLOW will (apparently) also give you greater control over you personal details on the Internet, determining who gets to see them and also revealing who is tracking you. The insurance will also cover the costs involved should your accounts be hacked: disabling accounts and the legal action required concerning the hacking.

It’s becoming more and more important to defend your online identity, as over 600,000 Facebook accounts are hacked daily and more than 55,000 Twitter passwords were leaked in May. One day you might be the new Mark Zuckerberg – and someone may decide to defame you across the social networks if you’re not protected.

But is this really necessary? Are insurance companies preying on a fear that’s not truly founded? Do we really need to pay $6.50 a month to protect ourselves from a mob of small-minded trolls?

What do you think? Is social media insurance a necessity or a scam?

[Via Daily Dot | Image Credit]