Greeks, once famous for their kamaki (chatting-up) practices, are now leaving their traditional techniques behind them and progressing to high-tech flirting with Grindr. The geosocial networking that runs on iOS, Android, BlackBerry OS devices was innitially geared towards gay, bisexual and bicurious men but straight versions of the applications are becoming popular amongst the young Greek set.

N.K. enters a nightclub at downtown Athens at midnight on Wednesday and turns on his Grindr application to find women he’ll hit on. He can pinpoint available girls within meters or kilometers away. With the push of a button he rejects 25-year-old Angela and 37-year-old Nena even though they are within breathing distance of him according to the application’s map. He sees a photo of a blonde girl holding a cocktail and gazing seductively at the camera.

He makes his big move and texts her. After a few messages back and forth he decides to meet her. She’s just a kilometer away with a group of friends. He goes to find her, ignoring the potential all around him as the bar he’s been texting from is filled with beautiful singles just a touch away from him.

He finds the blonde beauty and hangs around with her friends. They chat about their experiences with various flirting applications that make getting to know each other easy. “I’m tired of old kamaki,” says 35-year-old P.T. “In my opinion, these applications also have a filter that saves time. I may see interesting photos, interests and choose someone that I’d like to spend time with. If I’m not interested, I leave with just one click.”

N.K.’s blonde beauty says that she’s never made the first move. Things haven’t changed that much, she explains. She adds that apart from flirting, she’s also found friends through the use of the application.

Interestingly enough, N.K. leaves the bar with one of the girls from the nightclub where he had gone to meet the blonde beauty rather than the object that drew him there in the first place.

Grindr was launched on March 25,2009, and in January 2011 it won the award for “Best Mobile Dating App” at the iDate Awards 2011. The straight version of the application was announced on March 2011.

Other similar applications: Tinder, Bank Your Friends on Facebook