The article discusses the possibility of using the “Wikipedia” encyclopedic system as one of the key sources of information dissemination on the Internet in the course of election campaigns and as a multi-channel for forming a political image in the network space, as well as a tool of promotion of the image in the information field, and an effective means of combating competitors. Besides, it is one of the ways to implement the “counter-PR” strategies. The article includes a comprehensive empirical study, using quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as the comparative analysis of foreign practice cases with elements of descriptiveness. On this basis the theses about the encyclopedia are confirmed, including the political aspect. The conclusions about the current political rivalry are also made, as well as about the propaganda process and image-making as part of this communication channel.

election campaigns, Internet technologies, political image, political PR, political communications

1. Bazenkov N.I., Gubanov D.A. Obzor informatsionnykh sistem analiza sotsial’nykh setei [Review of Information Systems Analyzing Social Networks] // Upravlenie bol’shimi sistemami (elektronnoe nauchnoe periodicheskoe izdanie) [Managing Large Systems], 2013, no. 41, pp. 357–394.
2. Bronnikov I.A. Opyt ispol’zovaniya seti Internet v khode elektoral’nykh tsiklov v Rossii [Experience in The use of the Internet during Electoral Cycles in Russia] // Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya [Theory and Practice of Social Development], 2011, no. 4, pp. 197–199.
3. Vikipediya [Elektronnyi resurs] [Wikipedia [Electronic Source]] // Wikipedia.org. URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Википедия (request date: 27.09.2016)
4. Vikipediya: Populyarnye stat’i 2015 goda [Elektronnyi resurs] [Wikipedia: Popular Articles of 2015 [Electronic Source]] // Wikipedia.org. URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Википедия:Популярные_статьи/2015 (request date: 27.09.2016)
5. Vikipediya: Populyarnye stat’i 2015 goda : Politiki [Elektronnyi resurs] [Wikipedia: Popular Articles of 2015 : Politicians [Electronic Source]] Wikipedia.org. URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Википедия:Популярные_статьи/2015/Политики (request date: 27.09.2016)
6. Vikipediya: Trendy 2015 goda [Elektronnyi resurs] [Wikipedia: Trends for 2015 [Electronic Source]] // Wikipedia.org. URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Тренды_2015_года_по_версии_Википедии (request date: 27.09.2016)
7. Volodenkov S.V. Praktika i osobennosti ispol’zovaniya onlain-resursov v sovremennykh politicheskikh kampaniyakh v SShA [Practice and Features of Using Online Sources in the Modern Political Campaigns in the United States] // Politicheskaya ekspertiza: POLITEKS [Political expertise: POLITEKS], 2012, T. 8, no. 1, pp. 155–163.
8. Grachev M.N. Politika: kommunikatsionnoe izmerenie [Politics: the Communication Dimension]. Tula: Publishing house of Tula state pedagogical University. L.N. Tolstoy, 2011. 172 p.
9. Zyuganov Gennadii Andreevich [Elektronnyi resurs] [Zyuganov Gennady Andreyevich [Electronic Source]] // Wikipedia.org. URL: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Зюганов,_Геннадий_Андреевич (request date: 27.09.2016)
10. Personal’nyi brending. Tekhnologii dostizheniya lichnoi populyarnosti / Kotler F., Rein I., Khemlin M., Stoller M. [Personal branding. Technology gaining personal popularity / Kotler F., Rein I., Hamlin M., Stoller M]. M., 2008.
11. Razvitie interneta v regionakh Rossii [Elektronnyi resurs] [The Development of the Internet in the Russian Regions [Electronic Source]] // Yandex.ru. URL: https://yandex.ru/company/researches/2015/ya_internet_regions_2015#vozrastpolzovatelejjinterneta (request date: 24.09.2016)
12. Itogovyi otchet o rezul’tatakh obshchestvennogo distantsionnogo monitoringa vseobshchikh vyborov v Palatu obshchin Parlamenta Soedinennogo Korolevstva Velikobritanii i Severnoi Irlandii 7 maya 2015 goda / Rossiiskii obshchestvennyi institut izbiratel’nogo prava [Elektronnyi resurs] [The Final Report on the Results of the Public Remote Monitoring of the General Elections to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 7 May 2015 / the Russian Public Institute of Electoral Law [Electronic Source]]. URL: http://www.roiip.ru/images/data/gallery/8_6740__otchet_Velikobritaniya.pdf (request date: 25.09.2016)
13. Tramp zayavil ob otsutstvii u SShA prava pouchat’ drugikh [Elektronnyi resurs] [Trump Said the USA Has No Right to Teach Others [Electronic Source]] // LENTA.RU. URL: https://lenta.ru/news/2016/07/21/trump_wont_help_guys/ (request date: 27.09.2016)
14. Fedorchenko S.N., Rybina M.V. Elektoral’nye tekhnologii politicheskogo menedzhmenta [The Electoral Technologies of Political Management] // Izvestiya Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta «MAMI» [Izvestiya MGTU “MAMI”], 2012, T. 3, no. 2(14), pp. 267–274.
15. Aaker D.A., Joachimsthaler E. Brand Leadership. New York: The Free Press, 368 p.
16. Bimber B., Davis R. Campaigning Online: The Internet in U.S. Elections. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. 240 р.
17. Donald Trump`s Wikipedia Page Is the Busiest of the Candidates [Электронный ресурс] // Observer. URL: http://observer.com/2016/01/donald-trumps-wikipedia-page-is-the-busiest-of-the-cadidates/ (дата обращения: 27.09.2016).
18. On Wikipedia, Donald Trump Reigns and Facts Are Open to Debate [Электронный ресурс] // NyTimes. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/us/politics/wikipedia-donald-trump-2016-election.html?_r=0 (дата обращения: 27.09.2016).
19. The top 500 sites on the web [Электронный ресурс] // Alexa Internet, Inc. 1996–2016. URL: http://www.alexa.com/topsites (дата обращения: 23.09.2016).
20. Top Sites in Russia [Электронный ресурс] // alexa.com: Издание Alexa Internet, Inc. 1996 – 2016. URL: http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/RU (дата обращения: 23.09.2016).
21. Wikipedia ещё популярна? [Электронный ресурс] // GEMIUS. URL: http://www.gemius.ru/544/wikipedia-esche-populjarna-22091.html (дата обращения: 27.09.2016).
22. Wikimedia Traffic Analysis Report [Электронный ресурс] // Wikipedia Statistics. URL: https://stats.wikimedia.org/wikimedia/squids/SquidReportPageViewsPerCountryOverview.htm (дата обращения: 27.09.2016).