Based on research conducted on Instagram usage, it has been discovered that 88% of brand posts contain hashtags, and posts including hashtags receive an average of 12.6% more engagement than posts without hashtags. The first hashtag was used on social media in October 2007 – it was used by Nate Ridder from San Diego, California in his Facebook posts when he tagged them with the hashtag #SanDiegoOnFire – referring to the wildfires his local area was experiencing.