Engagement is a pathway to visibility.
In everything we do and everywhere we find ourselves, the essence of engagement can never be overemphasized, because quality engagement on different authors publication can be liken to an application letter being submitted to different user with the hope that via your consistent reasonable comments to their posts, with time they'll be willing to check you out, with the aim to make friend and as well support your work.
When talking about hive blockchain, as a newbie on the blockchain, there are high unlikeliness of your content being visible to many audience, except you're you'll the appropriate tags and publishing in the right community, but even at that, you as a newbie will mostly be at the mercy of curators, before you can get quality rewards on your post, and that isn't really because people weren't willing to support you, but because you've limited people in your network, who would usually look forward to seeing your content or seeing your quality response on theirs.
And that's where the place of passive engagement comes in, as a newbie who wishes to make wave on the blockchain and as well have an accelerated growth, then you should be willing to engage on many people's content, because your engagement on their content, could literally instigate them to want to check your content out as well, which would then lead to friendship and as consistent supporter of each other.
Now when talking about engaging on people's post, there is a different between leaving shabby comments just to gain attention and a *quality comments" that edifies the write-up of the alleged author you're commenting on their post.
For example:
If you're to comment on a DIY post of how someone made a lovely dress, that's is being beautify with different items. There is a different between;
- Very nice or these is beautiful
And - Wow, you did an excellent job on this dress, if fact these is pure masterpiece, I love colour combinations and how you design the sleeve of the dress.
If you were be the one who published such a post and received both comments from two different user, I'm sure you and I know who you'll be more attracted to, to give a quality reply and most likely check his/her profile up, to see the kind of stuff they're sharing.
Aside this, hive is a blockchain whose heart is built on Communities, and in a situation when you regularly publish your content in a community, there are more possibility for you to receive support from the moderator of such community, if you're a active community member, that support other members in the community with quality comments per time.
Although that doesn't mean they'll support your substandard content, but in a situation when you publish quality content and as well coupled that with edifying comments or friendly corrections on other people's post, then they'll most likely curate your post, ahead of someone who's only there to farm rewards for themselves, without caring to support others.
So with the above, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the importance of passive engagement can never be overemphasized, if you want to enjoy an accelerated growth on the blockchain.