Imagine this, you've got your new beau or gal and your friends ask you the obligatory question, "so how did you guys meet?" You two share a knowing look as you recite the perfectly choreographed tale of your chance encounter or forced set up by a mutual friend that doesn't actually exist. God forbid they knew the real story.

Most of us are familiar with the so-called "hook-up app," also known as Tinder. Whether it was because you were looking for some action, an ego boost, the love of your life, or a quick fix for a bought of boredom, if you're reading this, chances are you've swiped at some point (although most of us won't admit it). An app that was supposedly designed to help people find, "friends, dates, relationships, and everything in between", has gotten a seriously bad rap.

Oh, the horror if someone we know sees our profile! Where does this stigma come from that makes us hide our phones in shame to avoid having others know we're perusing our matches? What makes a relationship that started on Tinder any less real than one started on Match or Facebook?

Now, I'm not denying there are some people who use Tinder just to find hookups or booty-calls, but there are a similar number of individuals who are looking to get to know people they may have otherwise never spoken to. Now people seem bashful about their participation in the app no matter what their purpose for using it is. The app is what you make of it.

When Snapchat first came out, there was a similar stigma attached to it. I personally remember being terrified to have my mother find out I had one, even though I was doing nothing more than sending ridiculous selfies to my friends. Snapchat once held a reputation as being a "sexting" app and although there are individuals who took advantage of this reputation, others used it as an opportunity to send funny faces and filterless selfies you hoped your friends wouldn't screenshot.

Now, Snapchat has shed its previous reputation (mostly) and people use it freely without worrying about being judged. I think in the end, if its popularity lasts, Tinder will be no different.