To tell or not to tell, that is the question.

This discussion is prompted by a previous question about how to handle advances of a coworker while in a long distance dating relationship.

I find that, in general, talk show television has influenced our culture and set up the expectation that everything about us needs to be disclosed immediately to everyone that we know or are dating. The very act of dating someone seems to convey a right of ownership of our personal lives to the person we are dating. People end up committed to people without actually having a formal commitment to a relationship with that person. Dating is not the same as engaged or married.

How much are you obligated to disclose about yourself and what goes on with your life, your thoughts, your judgements, to someone that you are dating? Do you have a filtering criteria for what your expectation of privacy is within a dating relationship? Do you feel that the person you are dating is obligated to tell you every detail of what goes on in their head or every encounter they have with other people? Do you want to know if someone is flirting with your SO? What if you live away and can do nothing about it?