This month I have been taking part in the Problogger project 31 Days to Build a Better Blog.  Today’s assignment was Analyze a top blog in your niche which I thought would not be that much of a problem considering how long distance/online education programs have been available.  How quickly I found out that the majority of the blogs out there lumped everything under the general topic of e-learning.

Now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with this but what I found in over a dozen sites that I found through Google and Technorati was that most of the blogs were not much older than mine with Adsense ads everywhere or had not been updated in years.  The most common thread among all of them they had a drop down list of information for you to fill out so that you can get information from schools.  Nothing that I found in almost an hour of looking lead me to anything that seemed to be written from the aspect of someone that ACTUALLY earned a higher education degree online.

With my plus size fashion blog in its early days on Blogger it was flagged as being a splog a.ka. spam blog becasue of the affiliate banners which made me focus more on content than placing banners everywhere.  Years later it has survived off content which is were I want to start this blog off with from the beginning, but it seems as if the blogs that are dedicated towards online education are more about individuals trying to make a quick buck than actually trying to help people in need.

Though these distance education splogs are full of information most of it is not of much value to individuals like me that are looking to find a serious alternative to going to a brick and mortar school.  In the economy that we are facing in the United States today obtaining a degree online is becoming more of a reality for people looking to continue their journey into higher education while cutting back on the cost of travel and time that goes with a traditional education.

I will not be stopped in my search for other blogs in my chosen niche though the beginning of my journey tells me that there will be few sources out there that are being authored by students looking to help other students.