BoingBoing, the self-styled "Directory of Wonderful Things", has laid claim to being the most esteemed title in cyberspace: the bloggers' favourite blog.

The website, which on a typical newsday features stories on Vatican-sponsored exorcism lessons, a shot-by-shot Lego recreation of Michael Jackson's Thriller video, and a report claiming that surgeons who play video games make fewer errors, was cited more than any other blog – or web log – in 2004, according to an end-of-year review of the blogosphere.

According to Intelliseek, a research company that tracks and analyses more than two million blogs, BoingBoing was cited nearly 24,000 times by other bloggers.

Bloggers - diarists who publish their work online, usually including links to other sites and covering a vast array of topics - have become an influential part of the political and cultural landscape.

BoingBoing's creators see themselves as web purists, deriding rules such as "link policies" – which some websites use to identify other pages they do not wish to be linked to – as "a wicked, stupid idea" that "break the norms that make the web possible".

Such principles have fuelled explosive growth. BoingBoing attracted one million unique visitors last month compared with less than 100,000 in February, when it was launched.

Two American political articles vied with the BBC's obituary of the radio DJ John Peel for the title of "most blogged" news item of 2004, according to the Intelliseek research,

The transcript of the American comedian Jon Stewart's heated argument with Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala, the hosts of CNN's Crossfire politics television programme, eventually won, beating a Slate.com piece by Christopher Hitchens headlined: "UnFahrenheit 9/11: The Lies of Michael Moore" into second place.

"Calling Crossfire a debate show is like saying pro wrestling is a show about athletic competition," Mr Stewart said in the transcript of the interview. "You're doing theater, when you should be doing debate."

"You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?" Mr Carlson shouted in response.

The exchange was a fitting pinnacle for a year in which political blogs made a huge contribution to a fiercely contested and minutely scrutinised American presidential election.

The race for the White House also propelled President George W Bush and Senator John Kerry into the first and second spots for the most mentioned individuals - followed by Harry Potter and Britney Spears.

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive