Are we facing the end of punctuation — and civilization — as we know it? According to some language experts, the period itself is endangered because growing means of communication such as Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp often get along without it.

“We are at a momentous moment in the history of the full stop (the Commonwealth English term for what Americans call the period),” David Crystal, honorary professor at the University of Wales, Bangor, recently told The New York Times, which made note of his credentials: He has written more than 100 books on language and is a former master of original pronunciation at Shakespeare’s Globe theater in London.

According to Crystal, the internet in the 1990s “created an ethos of linguistic free love where breaking the rules was encouraged and punctuation was one of the ways this could be done.” And now, many short instant messages just trail off, unless they merit a question mark or exclamation. Even worse for punctuation purists, the period is not just fading away; it’s being redeployed. Crystal says, “The period now has an emotional charge and has become an emoticon of sorts.” In the evolving style of texters, responding to an invitation or suggestion with one word — “fine” — seems sincere, while adding a period after it suggests annoyance. Oh, fine. Another stumbling block for texters who may not know all the subtleties. The brief history of texting includes an apocryphal tale of a mom who incorrectly thought LOL meant “Lots of Love’’ instead of “Lots of Laughs” and responded to the announcement of the death of a relative with unintended mirth. Much can go wrong in a few characters. And some punctuation sins are attributable to tiny keyboards, not moral failings.

For a spot check of punctuation trends, we looked at the Twitter feed of one of its renowned users, Donald Trump, who harnesses Twitter the way James Watt did steam. A review of Trump’s recent tweets shows that he does use periods, sometimes, although his tweets often end without punctuation — or the application of reason. And many, not surprisingly from the excitable presumptive presidential nominee, employ an exclamation point. For example, in a mini-rant about “radical Islamic terrorism,’’ he insisted, “We must be smart!” One might want to respond with a 3,000-word Foreign Policy analysis of the dangers inherent in Trump’s views, but this could be a case where a texter’s economical irony is just as good, or better.

Trump: “We must be smart!”

Response: Fine.

Sometimes less is more. The new means of communication do have things to recommend them: speed and efficiency, for starters.

We hope that those who toss the period overboard will in other circumstances seek the rewards of fully crafting sentences and ideas. Writer Joan Didion famously said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.” And, we presume, until editing the first draft. It would be better if more people — political leaders and their followers included — followed her fine example.