I spent about two weeks on Steemit before making my first post (earlier today). I was very active making comments, upvoting posts and comments and resteeming posts I thought were good.
So, from my experience so far I have had some good connections with people just by making comments on posts.
Interesting point. I've done a lot of both myself. I suggest I've gotten more followers from posting content, but the actual connections I've made are usually from comments I make on other posts.