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If you use Facebook, you’re likely no stranger to the widespread clamor for a “dislike” button.

It’s not like Facebook has ignored the cry for such a reaction option. In 2016, the social media channel rolled out five new Reactions buttons: Love, Haha, Wow, Angry, and Sad — the last of two are, well, more specific versions of disliking something.

But none of them was a simple thumbs-down reaction — and when users once again learned that Facebook was rolling out a “downvote” option, there was a fleeting moment of hope for “dislike” reaction enthusiasts.

Let’s make one thing clear right away: You’re not getting a dislike button.

A New Way to Curb Abusive Comments

Instead, Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch last week, the social media channel is testing an option that would allow users to downvote comments on posts that they deem inappropriate. Think of it as a very quick, one-step way to report and flag an inappropriate comment with a single click.

Right now, the feature is available to quite a limited subset: It’s only being tested on public Page content, and only a small portion of users in U.S. can even see the feature.

But when you consider other recent changes Facebook has made to its algorithm — like those to boost public Page posts that receives a high quantity of genuine user engagement — the feature makes sense. Not only does it help to crowdsource the flagging of spammy, inauthentic interaction, but it’s also an extension of Facebook’s request of users to help spot fake news content.

“It looks like Facebook is doing this for the same reason it made an algorithm change: to figure out what content people like,” says Henry Franco, a HubSpot social campaign strategy associate.

Franco also points out Facebook’s recent first-ever earnings report of user decline, with eMarketer estimating that about 2.8 million of those lost users are under 25.

That’s just one source of motivation for Facebook to work toward better engagement, especially among certain age demographics.

The Timing Makes Sense

It’s a move that comes among months of scrutiny from the alleged weaponization of its site to promote content that interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

So not only does that satisfy an “end goal of maximizing time on site and user retention,” says Franco — it also plays an important role in public Page content that might spark controversy.

“Most of the time,” says HubSpot Principal Marketing Manager Marcus Andrews, a feature like this one is most applicable to “big public comment threads on current events or polarizing news topics … where some users are just trying to make jokes, antagonize others, or just simply be mean.”

The downvoting option, says Andrews, provides a seamless way for users to quickly take action to curb engagement of that nature.

“Facebook wants to give users a way to identify that,” he explains, “and have some recourse to show it in these big threads.”

Reminder: It’s Not a “Dislike” Button

As Facebook experiments with this new feature, Franco is quick to remind users that the downvote featue is not a dislike reaction option.

Not only is not a reaction feature, he points out, but it could also help to grand a degree of anonymity to the person flagging a given comment.

“This looks very different than a dislike button,” Franco says. “This change helps Facebook identify content that users don’t want to see, and I’m not sure that the person you’re interacting with will know they’ve been downvoted.”

That possibility, however, is not without its flaws. 

“The possible downside here is that this might just reinforce groupthink,” Franco explains. “If everyone in the group disagrees with an idea, that doesn’t necessarily make the idea wrong, but it may be hidden nonetheless.”

I’ll be keeping an eye on this feature as it continues to be tested. As always, feel free to weigh in with your take or questions on Twitter.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Monday.

I need coffee. You need coffee. And we all could use a little refresher on what happened in tech last week — and where that leaves us as we kick off the week ahead.

Without further ado, here are our top three picks for the biggest stories that emerged last week.

Tesla in Space and Uber in Court: Your Monday Morning Briefing

1. The (Mostly Successful) SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launch

The SpaceX Falcon Heavy — what has come to be known as one the most powerful rockets in history — had a successful launch last week from Cape Canaveral, Florida without any major issues (like an explosion) or significant malfunctions.

Aboard the rocket was SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s own Tesla vehicle — to many, an especially fancy, expensive, and eco-friendly sports car, which is currently in orbit with a mannequin “space man” along for the ride.

The event didn’t go off entirely without a hitch. While the itself is impressive — considering the Falcon Heavy’s high bandwidth for cargo (140,000 pounds, which is about 2X the capacity of any other functioning rocket in history) and high engine capacity (27 of them) — some things didn’t go as planned.

First, the ship’s middle core didn’t meet the drone ship on which it was supposed to land, missing the destination by about 300 feet and falling into the ocean, instead. 

Later that week, it was reported the rocket carrying the Tesla and “space man” overshot its path, projecting past the orbital path of Mars and deeper into the Solar System than intended — though astronomer Jonathan McDowell‏ predicts it could come in contact with Mars around 2020.

2. Uber and Waymo’s Day in Court

On what would have been day five of a long, ugly trial, Uber settled a lawsuit out-of-court with Waymo, the company accusing the ride-hailing giant of stealing its self-driving trade secrets. 

The terms of the settlement dictate Uber will pay Alphabet (Google and Waymo’s parent company) 0.34% of a late stock offering — about $245 million in equity. 

The settlement was announced in a statement penned by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who assumed the role last September. In it, he referred to Alphabet as “partners” and “important investors in Uber,” and apologized to members of Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group for the distraction from their work.

However, Khosrowshahi denied any belief that Uber did, in fact, play a part in the theft of trade secrets from Waymo. 

“We do not believe that any trade secrets made their way from Waymo to Uber,” he wrote, “nor do we believe that Uber has used any of Waymo’s proprietary information in its self-driving technology.”

Opening arguments began last Monday, after nearly a year of ugly accusations and back-and-forth drama involving delayed trial start dates and more. In October, the HubSpot Marketing Blog broke down the history of the trial.

A major player in the trial is Anthony Levandowski, a former Google employee accused of stealing myriad documents from his former employer and bringing them to Uber.

Levandowski left Google to work on his own self-driving startup, Otto, which was acquired by Uber. Levandowski no longer works for either.

It’s a long, sordid history — one summarized by dozens of outlets leading up to the trial. To review the gripping play-by-play, I recommend following transportation writers Johana Bhuiyan, Biz Carson, and Kate Conger on Twitter.

What intrigues me is how messy things have already become in this fairly new sector of technology. Legal contention over trade secrets isn’t a new concept, but a trial of this gravity happening this early in the lifespan of autonomous vehicle development does, at a minimum, give me pause.

Not only does everyone seem to want in on it — companies ranging from Apple to more “traditional” brands like GM have made significant investments in developing self-driving cars — but those involved are extremely protective of what they create.

We’ll keep an eye on how the lawsuit and its outcome impacts the self-driving sector moving forward — and the evolving legislation around it.

3. The Apple HomePod’s Arrival Is Met With Mixed Reviews

Finally, in the latest entrance of major players into the voice assistant market, Apple shipped its HomePod: a home speaker that pairs personal assistant capabilities (in the form of the brand’s own Siri) with music broadcasting.

In fact, Apple boasts the coupling of Siri’s AI with Apple Music technology — the brand’s latest generation of iTunes — helps it learn each user’s tastes and preference in songs, artists, and genres.

But there’s a catch: The HomePod only integrates with Apple Music.

Early reviews of the HomePod pointed out its unparalleled sound quality, which only goes so far if, say, you’re accustomed to Spotify or Pandora.

I’ll be writing more about the HomePod later this week and how it stacks up against other major voice assistant devices. But in the meantime, I’ll wax philosophical on its fate.

Are there enough Apple Music enthusiasts to help it outsell its counterparts from Amazon and Google? (The Wall Street Journal, for one, says Apple Music’s user numbers might soon surpass Spotify’s). 

Or will Apple see more of us who are simply too committed to our current streaming music services to make the switch to its speaker?

Time will tell.

That’s all for today. Have a great week.

Most people watch movies to escape the real world, especially as a way to unwind after work. But some of the best movies can actually inspire us to be better at our jobs.

Watching movies is a refreshing, if unconventional way to reflect on your career and learn something new about yourself, so we’ve curated a list of the best movies for modern marketers. We hope they inspire you and help you grow.

8 of the Best Movies for Modern Marketers

1. The Social Network

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

The Social Network tells the gripping origin story of a website that moved tectonic plates in the digital marketing world — Facebook. As a marketer, it’s fascinating to get an inside look at what inspired the creation of Facebook, the founders’ thought processes when they built it, the steps they took to develop it, and all the ups and downs Facebook experienced as it evolved into the social media giant it is today. From its humble yet promising beginnings to its rapid growth, The Social Network shows you that Facebook’s rise to tech stardom wasn’t void of any obstacles.

2. Moneyball

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

In 2002, the Oakland A’s won the most games in baseball, highlighted by a 20 game winning streak that broke an American League record. They also had the third lowest payroll in the Major Leagues. In an industry dominated by teams with enormous payrolls, how did the A’s become the best in baseball?

They made data-driven decisions.

Moneyball recounts the beginnings of an analytical approach to winning baseball that is the status-quo today. The A’s swapped the instinctual, traditional way of scouting players for one of the most unconventional routes at the time. By signing cheap, undervalued players based on metrics that signaled success to only the A’s and no one else, they got the maximum bang for their buck for each dollar spent.

In this sense, baseball and marketing have a lot in common. Before data drove key decision making, intuition did. Then, when a few brave trailblazers nominated data as its replacement, a tidal wave of backlash came crashing down on them. But data proved itself worthy, and it has become the most crucial component in the decision-making process for both industries.

3. Up in the Air

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Nowadays, it seems like everybody strives for a more balanced life. But not Ryan Bingham, George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air. Ryan works for an HR consultancy firm that helps companies conduct layoffs. He flies almost every day to fire his client’s employees, so he doesn’t have a permanent address or a family. And he absolutely loves it. Ryan believes that relationships with people and things aren’t worth it — they’re too taxing. He even gives motivational speeches to get people to follow his life mantra.

But when Ryan starts a casual relationship with a fellow frequent flyer, mentors a new hire who constantly challenges his values, and experiences some heavy moments with them both, he starts to question his life philosophy.

Up in the Air reminds us that hard work and dedication can take you to great heights. But your most memorable moments in life will always revolve around your loved ones, not your career.

4. Steve Jobs

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

Steve Jobs, the man behind Apple, was arguably the most visionary product designer and marketer of our generation. In his biographical film, Steve Jobs’ notorious personality is always on full display. The movie delves into the complex reasoning for Jobs’ poorly made psyche, which provokes sympathy for Jobs despite his ruthless treatment of his diligent employees, meticulous micromanagement, and bitter coldness towards his loved ones. And, more importantly, you learn how much he impacted Apple, technology, and the world as we know it today.

5. Thank You For Smoking

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

Nick Naylor, a slick tobacco lobbyist, has a talent for persuasion. Throughout the movie, you watch in disbelief as he cleverly defends the tobacco industry in classrooms, on T.V. shows, and even at a Senate hearing. Some people might think Thank You For Smoking is just an advertisement for cigarettes. But its core message is a lot more complex than that. The movie illustrates how knowing how to spin a product the right way can convince anyone that it’s good for you, even if it can kill you. And that’s the encouraging yet dangerous part of marketing: people want to trust other people and they want to be swayed. That’s the human condition.

6. The Founder

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

The Founder tells the story of Ray Kroc, a 52-year old milkshake machine salesman who discovers McDonald’s, a small yet remarkably efficient burger joint, and transforms it into the largest fast food empire in the world. But even though Kroc’s grit and determination to catapult McDonald’s into the chain restaurant hall-of-fame is admirable, his broken moral compass and conniving methods are despicable. Throughout the movie, you learn the McDonald’s empire is built upon a heap of controversial business moves. It makes you question where you yourself should draw the line between doing whatever you can to fulfill your dreams, and being morally good.

7. The Pursuit of Happyness

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 67%

Chris Gardner has one of the most inspirational life stories out there. While watching his biographical film, you experience the euphoric highs and heartbreaking lows of his life as a homeless, unpaid intern raising a 5-year old son on his own. But his ambition, perseverance, and love for his son ultimately drive him towards success, giving this movie a very happy ending.

8. The Joneses

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%

The Joneses’ are the perfect family. They’re good looking, charming, and have the perfect life. Too bad it’s all fake. They’re actually a group of professional salespeople who leverage their influence to promote products to their community. You haven’t seen influencer marketing until you’ve watched this movie.