Describe how “lurking” (looking at certain things without actively participating) may be “stepping stones toward greater engagement”

I don't know if your history assignment is looking for a specific answer, but my answer based off of personal experience would be that lurking allows non-social people to see how to respond to people and talk with them.  Learn how people speak to each other and eventually adapt these ways of speaking to others to make friends.  Hope this helped!

-TTL