Getty Heather El Moussa at the 2022 People's Choice Awards
Heather El Moussa is busy tying up loose ends before her first baby with husband Tarek El Moussa arrives this month, from filming scenes for her TV shows — Netflix’s “Selling Sunset” and the upcoming HGTV series “The Flipping El Moussas” — to prepping her baby boy’s nursery. But her social media followers say Heather’s busy schedule is not an excuse for ignoring them on Instagram, especially after she specifically offered in a new post to “answer any and all questions” they had for her.
Heather has said that becoming a sought-after social media influencer has been the result of being “authentic” with her fans, but her latest case of posting and ghosting has prompted some to say they’re done following the star altogether.
Fans Call Heather El Moussa ‘Rude’ For Not Answering Any Questions
Heather and her husband of a year, HGTV star Tarek El Moussa, have amassed an impressive following on social media. On Instagram alone, Heather has three million followers while Tarek has 1.3 million. They both typically upload posts and Stories multiple times a day, sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses of their life together, promoting their events and shows, showcasing design and product trends, and participating in brand partnerships with brands that pay them for their endorsements.
On January 13, 2023, Heather posted a selfie of herself with Tarek inside their luxury sprinter van and invited followers to ask her anything.
“Proud of myself for only taking 1 selfie and not 100,” she wrote, adding a laughing emoji. “And I’m sure he’s thrilled too lol anyways- using this post to answer any + all questions! Can be anything: real estate q’s, selling sunset, baby, skincare, essentials- literally anything! Go”
Fans immediately flooded the post with questions about her life and work, curious about the baby’s due date, wondering about Heather’s favorite beauty regimens, and asking about her shows. But Heather never returned to respond to any of her fans, angering many of them.
Over 100 people “liked” a comment left by a fan who wrote, “I think it’s cool you’re trying to be more engaged with followers and give them (including me!) what they want to hear! However, I feel like you don’t often respond to peoples questions besides some links. I know you’re super busy, but I feel like the people who are ‘influencers’ that I like the most are those who are the most engaged with their followers and make an effort to answer them. Just some thoughts”
Another frustrated fan replied, “I agree so rude it’s like your out to just see how many hits your question gets Heather”
One woman added, “it’s a good way to lose followers we’re catching on really quick she don’t follow through with any responses therefore meaning she really don’t care sure she’s busy but so is everyone else who took the time to comment at least she could do the same if she’s going to ask a question…very rude”
Others wondered if Heather’s silence was because she was in labor and couldn’t reply. But the following day, Heather posted several Instagram Stories, sharing a TikTok video she’d created about filming season 7 of “Selling Sunset,” which made it clear that she was still on social media and not in labor after all.
Meanwhile, Tarek posted the same Instagram photo on January 14, the day after Heather did, sharing that he is doing his best to help his family prepare for the new baby. Rather than ask fans if they had questions, he asked them to share their insights for dads-to-be.
Heather commented on his post, “Best daddy!!!!! love you hubby so so much. Bestie”
Heather El Moussa Says She Wants Her Followers to ‘Relate to Me’
GettyHeather Rae and Tarek El Moussa in June 2022
On the Instagram post that angered so many fans, multiple people commented that Heather’s invitation to ask questions was just part of her social media strategy to generate comments.
One person wrote, “They ask questions like this for engagement. The higher their engagement, the better sponsorships they get. That’s why they do so many polls also.”
Brands of all sizes pay social media influencers like Heather to endorse their products. According to the Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2022 report on social media influencers, “engagement” remains the most important thing that companies look for when evaluating which social media influencers to hire. The number of clicks or comments Heather and other personalities generate on their posts matters to marketers who hope that posts about their products will generate similar levels of engagement from fans.
In September 2022, Heather and Tarek were featured as social media experts at the Zeta Live marketing conference in New York. When asked about her strategy for engaging with her audience, Heather said she has a social media manager who helps plan out her branded posts, but that she also likes to do impromptu, “authentic” posts and interact with her followers.
“I’m myself on social media,” she said. “I like to be myself because I want people to relate to me. I want to talk to my fans, talk to (the) people that are following me.”