I wish I had engaged in Steem last year! But, alas, being a normal human who is afraid of the unknown/what I don't understand I did not, rather joined this year thinking first and foremost (believe it or not) it would be a therapeutic venture for myself. Years of time on the old book of faces yielded no real interaction that i considered more than superficial bull most of the time. I got those interactions and still do (but rarely) within closed or secret Facebook groups. Usually, posting about something on my main page resulted in seeming disinterest, some people thinking my interests were strange or "fringe", and some people being mad, or taking personally topics of interest (not in a good way). Facebook draws in a lot of drama, politics, and general bs. My social engagement there has/had long since been that of fulfillment. Here on steemit however, it is different. Even though I'm still a "newb" I had more fulfilling interactions on here than i ever did on facebook. Oh wait, and i can get paid too!?
So anyway, i think engagement comes first because it demonstrates interest and genuine personality.