For someone that is just new you pick things up rather quickly.
Upvote bots are a common thing on Steemit, it has its up and downs, the downside mostly being a phenonom called "circle jerking", in which the same authors are upvoted for the best curation rewards. Actually might have an article you mind find interesting concerning this issue: https://steemit.com/curation/@thecryptofiend/the-curation-conundrum

As for the comment engagement I totally agree. Right now upvotes are mostly concentrated on articles, and I think this should be balanced out more. However, waiting a week before upvoting comments wouldn't really be a good option in my opinion. Because it would make the engagement less, seeing that after 7 days a post's payout is already done, leaving the comment section to a dead zone.