Technologies

Taylor Swift Is Engaged. Her Post Is Climbing Instagram’s Most-Liked List

The post is now at No. 8 for non-soccer related posts with 30 million likes. Check out the memes, details on her dress, his sweater and that ring.

Nobody is shaking this off: Pop superstar Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Instagram on Tuesday, and the likes exploded like pyrotechnics at a concert. The post broke Instagram’s record for reposts, even though, to be fair, reposting just started on Instagram in August. Still, the post hit 1 million reposts in less than 6 hours and earned 14 million likes in just the first hour.

By Wednesday, it had topped 30 million likes, vaulting it to number eight on Instagram’s list of top non-soccer posts.

«Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married,» Swift and Kelce wrote on an Instagram post showing multiple photos of the proposal. In the first photo, Kelce is kneeling in front of Swift in a breathtaking floral garden. The second photo shows them standing and holding one another. The next is her hand with an enormous diamond engagement ring, followed by two more of the couple embracing.

The post also features a dynamite emoji and the audio of Swift’s 2024 song So High School. The snippet cuts off with the lyrics, «Are you gonna marry, kiss, or kill me?» (Let’s hope it’s the first or second option.)

Instagram post is already climbing into the millions

As you might expect, the Instagram post delivering the engagement news shot into the stratosphere as soon as it was posted. A representative for Instagram confirmed to CNET that Swift and Kelce’s engagement announcement earned over 14 million likes and 452,000 reposts in just over an hour.

That’s a huge audience, but it will be interesting to see how high up Swift and Kelce’s engagement news post lands on Instagram’s all-time most popular list.

Right now, the most popular post ever on Instagram is from 2022, when soccer star Lionel Messi posted an image of himself hoisting the World Cup he’d just won. That post has more than 74 million likes. (Swifties, keep it going if you want to send the Swift-Kelce post to the top.)

The Instagram representative didn’t immediately comment on whether Swift and Kelce’s post is climbing at the same pace as Messi’s. Messi also has the third-most popular post, again showing him and the World Cup trophy, this time snuggled up in bed together.

But it’s not just soccer photos that top the Instagram most-viewed-ever list. The second most-liked post of all time is a photo of a plain, ordinary egg, posted to the social network back in 2019 as part of someone’s experiment to see if such a mundane image could go hugely viral. I interviewed the person behind Eugene the Egg back in 2019 and am shocked to see it’s still in the No. 2 spot six years later, with more than 60 million likes.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the post had reached 30 million likes, and was sitting at number eight on Instagram’s list of top posts that aren’t soccer-related. If it can garner 900,000 more likes, it can jump into seventh place, passing a reel of a smiley baby.

Details on the ring and outfits

According to The New York Post, Swift is wearing a blue silk-blend Polo Ralph Lauren dress in the photo, and Kelce is wearing a navy cable-knit Polo Ralph Lauren sweater. The Post also reports that Swift’s new engagement ring is «an old mine brilliant-cut diamond in a gold bezel setting, which was designed by Kelce himself with the help of Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine Jewelry.»

Old mine refers to a historic diamond cut popular from the early 18th century to the late 19th century. Such diamonds are square with rounded corners and have 58 facets, making them anything but a «paper ring.»

The Post delved into everything else Swift had on, including her cognac-colored Louis Vuitton sandals, $18,000 diamond-studded Cartier Santos Demoiselle watch and her «TNT» friendship bracelet by Wove, which was a Christmas gift from her new fiancé.

To no one’s shock, the $400 dress Swift is wearing is selling out fast. Just imagine the excitement when the wedding details start trickling out, and Swift begins to «pick out a white dress,» as Juliet does in Swift’s hit song Love Story.

Memeing the marriage proposal

Until we have more information about the upcoming wedding, fans will have to content themselves by creating and sharing memes because, well, it’s 2025, and that’s part of how we communicate these days.

The Instagram account belonging to the Prince and Princess of Wales even liked the post. (No surprise, really, they hung out when Swift played London.)

Even coffee giant Starbucks got into the act, making a joke about pumpkin spice lattes and posting, «Are we supposed to keep posting about PSL like nothing happened?» The company also noted in the post’s comments that «the long list of Starbucks lovers just got a +1.» («Starbucks lovers» is a sly reference to a lyric in Swift’s 2014 song Blank Space. Swift actually sings, «got a long list of ex-lovers,» but almost anyone with working ears mishears it as something like, «all the lonely Starbucks lovers.»)

One meme post on X showed Paul Revere’s famed ride, captioned «me telling everyone I know that Taylor Swift got engaged.»

me telling everyone I know that Taylor Swift got engaged pic.twitter.com/MpS8BLPOZj

— Siobhan ✨ (@Siobachka) August 26, 2025

One Bluesky user wrote, «Very interesting that Taylor Swift got engaged mere months after I did. Get your own thing.»

Another joked, «Can’t believe that on July 8th, 2023, @likethe309.bsky.social, Travis Kelce and I all walked into Arrowhead Stadium to attend the Eras Tour and now one of us is marrying Taylor Swift.»

Matt Ufford warned the billionaire bride-to-be and her millionaire NFL star husband to count their pennies, writing, «a word of warning to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce: weddings can get EXPENSIVE, fast. Be sure to leave enough in the account for your monthly expenses.»

There were football jokes, of course.

The Detroit Free Press sought a local connection, using the headline, «Tight end for Detroit Lions’ Week 6 opponent gets engaged to Taylor Swift.»

One person questioned the caption about an English teacher marrying a gym teacher, asking, «Why does Taylor Swift think she’s an English teacher and not a music teacher?»

We’re pretty sure this person really does know who Swift is, but their post was funny anyway. It reads, «Okay, I’ll bite: who’s Taylor Swift? What’s so great about him?»

The two 35-year-old celebrities have been dating for two years. It’s a love story, and Taylor just said yes.

Technologies

Delivery Companies Around the World Stop Shipments to the US: Here’s Who’s Affected

Major shipping companies including DHL and the Australian Post have paused shipments to the US.

Primary shipping services, including the European branch of DHL, multiple European state postal services, Australia Post, Japan Post and Taiwan’s state postal service, have stopped shipping consumer goods of varying amounts (over $100 in some cases) to the US. The pause is currently expected to be temporary as countries respond to the latest US tariff measures, but could have a significant impact on US businesses selling anything from Taiwanese GPUs and Japanese card packs to European electronics.

The response stems from tariff actions related to the «de minimis» trade option, which allows the US to select certain business-friendly goods to be duty-free when shipped into the United States.

In July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that appeared to ban the use of this de minimis option. Postal companies have paused services for the time being, reporting that they aren’t sure how the specifics of the order affect them and did not have time to respond. As the additional tariffs go into effect, shipping companies say to expect downtime as they seek to understand the rules and retool their shipping processes.

Don’t miss any of CNET’s unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add us as a preferred Google source on Chrome.

Major shipping companies from other countries, including India, have said they will follow suit soon.

While the details and timeframe are currently unknown, it’s likely that if shipping from these countries resumes, it will be at significantly higher duties and related taxes, which US businesses may pass down to consumers as higher retail prices. Until then, several overseas sellers are expected to stop taking orders from US buyers altogether.

Read more: Tech Tariff Anxiety Is Still High. CNET Survey Finds 64% of Shoppers Are Rushing to Buy Tech to Dodge Price Spikes and Shortages

Can people still send packages to the US?

Small consumer-oriented packages can still be sent through most services, depending on the specific value and related rules that shipping companies currently have. For example, if someone is trying to send a personal gift during this time, it shouldn’t be affected.

However, businesses that trade in international goods — including online shops on eBay and Etsy — currently have little recourse except to rely on current stock, find other suppliers or wait for the situation to be resolved. That’s an unfortunate situation ahead of big Labor Day sales.

Technologies

PlayStation Plus Subscribers Are Eating With These Free September Games

Go on a mind-bending journey or spend some time down on the farm with these games.

On Sept. 2, all PlayStation Plus members can play games like Psychonauts 2, the 2021 Game Awards nominee for Game of the Year. The original Psychonauts was highly praised for its comedic storytelling and unique characters when released in 2005, and the sequel received acclaim for its creativity, art style and humor.

PlayStation Plus is similar to Xbox Game Pass, offering subscribers a large, constantly expanding library of games. Subscribers can choose from the Essential, Extra and Premium tiers, each with unique perks and benefits. The plans start at $10 a month, giving you access to monthly games and rewards.

Here are the games all PS Plus subscribers can play starting on Sept. 2. You can also check out the games Sony added to the PS Plus Game Catalog in August, including Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Psychonauts 2

In this platformer, you’ll take control of Razputin «Raz» Aquato after the events of the first game. You’ve joined the international psychic espionage organization known as the Psychonauts, and you’ve got some internal problems to deal with: Your group’s leader is acting strange and there’s a mole in the organization. You’ll delve into the minds of friends and foes as you traverse quirky landscapes and solve puzzles to bring down the psychic villain.

Stardew Valley

This award-winning farm life simulator won the Golden Joystick Awards Breakthrough Award in 2016, and for good reason! There are tons of secrets to uncover, and a deep level of customization for your character and farm. Plus, it’s easy to get lost in the magic of the mundane tasks within the game. Stardew Valley helped bring cozy games to a wider audience, and it’s still highly praised almost a decade after its release.

In this game, you try to turn an old, dilapidated farm into a rural oasis. You can spend your time tilling the land and raising animals, or you can go into Pelican Town and interact with the locals. You pick what you want to do, but I can almost guarantee that no matter what you choose to do, you’ll have fun.

Viewfinder

M.C. Escher would probably love this puzzle game. You have an instant camera, and the pictures you take will help you traverse gaps and create doors out of seemingly thin air. This game will challenge you to change your perspective, and it will force you to reshape reality to achieve your goals.

For more on PlayStation Plus, here’s what to know about the service and a rundown of PS Plus Extra and Premium games added in August. You can also check out the latest and upcoming games on Xbox Game Pass and Apple Arcade.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 28, #1531

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Aug. 28, No. 1,531

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle came together pretty easily for me. The letters mostly popped up right away in my two starter words. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.