User blog comment:EvilMummy/What Makes a Top Island?/@comment-11494103-20130715001600

Secret formula that only the people at Big Blue Bubble know. It is not based on total likes. I think placement onto the top 25 list is based on the number of likes received during the prior week. Then once the island is on the list, it moves up and down the list depending on the number of likes and dislikes it receives during the week. So I suspect movement onto and within the list will be far less volatile than the prior method when placement onto and within the list was based on the number of likes received during a certain brief few hour period.