Suppose I see a bad question or a bad answer. Instead of outrightly flagging it or down voting it, is it fine to comment in the question or answer to the asker or answerer to remove it?

I ask this because sometimes the asker or answerer might have a tiny reputation but at the same time might have a good knowledge. But since he/she might be new to the community, he/she might not have known all the regulations of AU and so down voting the question or answer (and subsequent loss of reputation) he/she has posted might not encourage that he/she to continue in the site.

Thus in an attempt to serve our community by flagging or down voting one bad question/answer we might cause a heavy loss to the community by losing a user who might in future prove very useful to it. Therefore, is it fine to comment to an answerer or asker to remove his answer or question?