Tinder co-founder Sean Rad wants the popular dating app to move beyond romance and into business networking connections. Picture: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

Five years ago, we were treated to adorable stories about meeting in airports, bars or the workplace. Now, new lovers turn to each other shyly, giggle and confess they found love “on Tinder”.

Admitting you met on Tinder is still a tiny bit embarrassing. People are reluctant to confess they’re one of the 11 billion matches made on the wildly successful dating app — now worth around $US1.3 billion — founded in 2012.

This embarrassment seems silly, when one in three marriages now begin through online dating, according to a 2013 US study. We’ve all seen colleagues, friends and exes on Tinder — everyone is using it — so why are we still so bashful?

Even Tinder’s founder and CEO Sean Rad doesn’t understand why.

“I really couldn’t answer that question,” he told news.com.au over the phone from Los Angeles, where his company’s offices are based.

“I think it’s awesome when you think about billions of connections that would have never existed before. Everyday we hear stories about how people’s lives are being changed ... that’s pretty profound and awesome.”

But this disparity between our private love of Tinder and our reluctance to publicly own up to it could cause problems for the app’s expansion plans.

Tinder founder and CEO Sean Rad. Picture: Steve Jennings/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Rad wants Tinder to become a “social discovery” platform as big as Instagram or Snapchat used to create all types of human connections, not just romantic ones.

There’s already a Tinder Social tool — which connects groups of friends with other groups or individuals — and the next step is business networking.

“Tinder removes anxiety in making social connections,” Rad said. “You can imagine there’s a lot of reasons people want to connect with other people and a lot of that’s already happening on Tinder.

“We want to expand that and think about how our users are already using Tinder to meet and how can we do a better job of amplifying those experiences.”

Rad is a professional diplomat and won’t commit any detail beyond vague, sweeping statements. Any push for more information and some curlier questions are met with a curt interjection from his publicist.

“We’re not announcing anything on that [a Tinder for business], but I think it’s totally plausible that Tinder can add value to networking,” he said.

If we’re still bashful about using Tinder to date, we’re a long way from being cool enough with it to apply for a job or make a corporate connection.

For now, Tinder is focused on tweaking the app so you get better matches.

A new partnership with music streaming service Spotify means users can now broadcast their “anthem” from their Tinder profile and swipe to see who else shares the same music interest.

“Music is a big part of our experience when we meet someone and get to know someone,” Rad said.

“You sometimes end up at a bar or a club that represents your musical interests and when you meet with someone you socialise around what sort of music they love.

“So wanted to put it in Tinder in a very fun way on the profile. It’s a great conversation starter. You get a taste of someone’s personality and it’s a fun way to get to know someone.”

It’s also another way Tinder can gather data on you, so the potential matches offered up are more likely to make you swipe right.

“We’ll use that data to better target and recommend people to you.”

Sean Rad says Tinder has led to billions of connections. Picture: Noam Galai/Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

What does Rad say to people who argue Tinder is part of the problem with the modern dating world? That we’re always looking for something better, not willing to settle?

“I think it’s not true,” he said. “If you to talk to any sociologist, I think they’ll tell you that choice is not the enemy of finding ‘The One’. It’s actually the opposite. The more options you have the higher the likelihood that you’ll find the one.

“But to those people I’m happy to send them the thousands of emails I get every week from people inviting me to their weddings or telling me how they’ve met the love of their life [on Tinder].”

And yes, despite having a girlfriend, Rad is on Tinder. “I am not single, but I use Tinder to talk to our users.”

His bio used to read “Founder and CEO of Tinder — yes, the app you’re using”. Now it simply says “Tinder CEO”.

“I’ll take [the bio] off from time to time,” he said, “because I sometimes find when I ask people what they like about Tinder, if they don’t know I’m the CEO, they tend to be a little more open.”

How does his girlfriend feel about her partner “connecting with other users” online?

“We’ll take that question in an email,” says his publicist. Once again, there is no detail given.

If Rad wants to sell his idea of a “Tinder for work” to a generation still embarrassed to admit they even use his app, he needs to start speaking up soon.

rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au