My friend Paul quite recently introduced me to a new way of collaborating real-time and organising ideas in the Web 2.0 era – Online Mind Mapping. I had to check it out – it is nothing short of “Uber cool”!!!

If you are just as clueless as I am (oops, “was”) about Mind Mapping, check out the definition below: “Mind mapping is a strategy for helping people order and structure their thinking through mentally mapping words and/or concepts. This strategy uses key words (or phrases) and images. They are much quicker to create and because of their visual quality, much easier to remember and review.”

Wikipedia defines Mind Mapping as follows:
“A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.”

There are a number of cool web tools for online mind mapping/flowcharting: MindMeister.com, Mind42.com, Bubbl.us, Mindomo, Mayomi, Thebrain.com, Linksviewer.com (online network analysis tool) and more. I found Mindmeister to be more feature rich and easier to play with. I will report on some of the other tools, as I continue to play with them.

How do I do this?

Tony Buzan, a proponent of the techniques of Mind Mapping and mental literacy, suggests using the following foundation structures for Mind Mapping:

• Start in the center with an image of the topic, using at least 3 colors
• Use images, symbols, codes, and dimensions throughout your Mind Map
• Select key words and print using upper or lower case letters
• Each word/image must be alone and sitting on its own line
• The lines must be connected, starting from the central image. The central lines are thicker, organic and flowing, becoming thinner as they radiate out from the centre.
• Make the lines the same length as the word/image
• Use colors – your own code – throughout the Mind Map
• Develop your own personal style of Mind Mapping
• Use emphasis and show associations in your Mind Map
• Keep the Mind Map clear by using radial hierarchy, numerical order or outlines to embrace your branches

My favorite map on Mindmeister is Micah Johnson’s map on “Social Media Websites“. If you haven’t read my previous posting on the “… Media Social Starfish”, please do. Micah’s map is a good representation of how this starfish is growing in size.