A sona is a shortened version of the word "persona," which means yourself. It is a character interpretation of yourself, without using your own self-portrait. Sonas are used as identification on the internet without having to draw yourself all the time. The most popular types of sonas are fursonas and gemsonas, which are part of the Furry and SU fandoms, respectively. A sona is not a self-insert, but rather a character design that represents the creator. They are distinct from self-inserts because the focus is on character design, and the sona is not made for the purpose of interacting with canon characters. Creating a sona may be part of a challenge or hashtag, and they are generally not accompanied by fanfiction or roleplay – they are mainly for visual enjoyment and are not meant to be imagined as existing within the canon of a story. The terms and agreed-upon tags for sonas are usually fandom-specific, and a noun, usually related to the species of the character, is placed before -sona.