What do you think about this?

i disagree. Yoona wouldn't even be the most popular, if SM didn't force the whole "visual" thing. most of the people i know are shocked when i say that Yoona is the most popular and the visual of the group. why? because they say she's forgetabble and there are way better and prettier members. what i'm trying to say is...if SM didn't exaggerate Yoona's screentime and lines, she wouldn't be as popular as she is now. also, if it wasn't for SNSD, Yoona wouldn't be that popular. what would she do with her life? being an actress? well, even her dramas have low ratings, which means that most of the viewers will watch a drama because of the plot and characters, not because of the actor or actress. she definitely wouldn't be a soloist, unless SM was drunk. she could be a model but that's it. so yeah, SNSD also helps Yoona A LOT. it's not only Yoona who helps SNSD. and, if you're gonna talk about the most popular in South korea, i would actually say that it's Taeyeon now.

Hyuna's popularity from 4minute is even worse. Cube is crazy about her, giving a solo project which is completely ridiculous. not to mention the screentime she has on their MV's. no wonder people forget about the other members. did you know that, before Hyuna became a soloist, Jiyoon was almost tied with her for the most popular? but now what? people only talk about Hyuna, Hyuna, Hyuna and it's Cube's fault. i hope SM is smart enough to not do the same

and let's not forget that, outside of South korea(well, basicaly ALL Asia), Yoona isn't even talked. people simply forget about her. they always mention Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Sunny, even Tiffany. but not Yoona. it's funny comparing these things in different continents

Well lets be clear about something, Yoona doesn't the same level of importance now as she did 5 years ago that much is obvious.
Lets start from the beginning, most people recognized Yoona because she was in a drama before she was really known in SNSD. So that means that she already had an advantage over the other members because most people forget that South Koreans find Yoona pretty and being pretty in South Korea will take you very far. So Sm "out of demand" promoted her face more than other members. If you think Yoona is all hype then why do other idols consider her the ideal beauty or why do companies what her to promote their product, because they actually like her face, it has little to do with SM as much as it has to do with Yoona just being Yoona.

2.Now since Yoona was already getting recognition for her dramas people used to just refer Yoona by her drama character instead of her name used in the SNSD. She had to promote SNSD, because people (in some way) paid more attention to her because she was pretty. She was placed all over the place to draw attention to the group to make them look interesting. So a lot of SNSD popularity and revenue might I add comes from Yoona the only second place would be Taeyeon, which is a whole other ball game. Now this isn't to say that Yoona isn't pre say replaceable, but SNSD wouldn't have been popular from the start if she wasn't there.

3. Currently her face is still shown more often than not but since SNSD have been in the scene for a bit other members can now be seen in different light. Yoona will always be important to the group, she will always be the top in popularity, and she will always be SNSD's "it" girl unless a scandal happens or the demographic of a country demands otherwise.

Jessica just got a popularity award and Jessica is the 5th most beautiful face in Korea but yoona is only in the top 100 so that makes her nothing....without the members,without yoonaddicts,she is nothing and I would say Taeyeon is even popular than her so........I don't hate her but some of her fans thinks she is the most beautiful but I have no problem with that I think my bias is beautiful too but not the most so fans of yoona please stop it pay more attention to other members and slowly you would think some members are better than yoona....(no offense)