Hi there, thanks for presenting the idea. Before the Steem experts come in, I'll just add what I know.

The example that keeps coming to mind…a regulator would have a tough(er) time shutting down a blockchain-based currency like bitcoin, but wouldn’t shutting down the blogging piece of Steemit or a third party Ethereum DAPP be no different than shutting down a Twitter or other centralized tech platform? This is what confuses me. Does Steemit as a blogging platform share the same benefits of decentralization as the ‘Steem’ blockchain-based currency does?

First of all Steemit (operated by Steemit Inc) is a website/user interface that reads off the Steem blockchain. Not to be confused being the same thing. It may be easy to shutdown a website (just the access point), but it would be quite impossible to censor or bring down the whole blockchain. With regards to the Steemit blog and Ethereum DAPPs, just think of them as a distributing computing/database platform, supported by any computers around the world. To bring this beast down, authorities would need to identify enough nodes to overpower the consensus of the network.

The Images posted to reddit or even Steemit are just links out to different urls where the images are stored from my understanding. Is there no way to store data like this via blockchain technology and completely decentralize it? (so a piece of evidence posted - whether .png/PDF/video, etc could rest in the blockchain & never be removed)? This I could certainly see the benefit of, but not sure if thats even possible at this point.

AFAIK, yes, Ethereum is working on this. Maidsafe as well. It's quite like the torrent concept. Definitely doable. Not sure about the Steem blockchain though, not an expert - hope someone can shed some light on this.

In what ways can developers integrate Steemit/Steem with existing apps built in other more traditional programming languages to benefit those apps? I am for instance wondering about ways i could somehow build steem into my platform, but I just have no idea what is possible or where to start. I have a voting system built into the current app that allows users to vote up the importance of evidence to an investigation & the credibility of sources, etc…& I am working on a reputation system based on votes…but would something like this even benefit from using Steemit instead & is that possible?

I hope the experts of Steem will soon drop by and give you a better idea on this. AFAIK, you can checkout Piston by @xeroc , and there are plenty of developments going on around here. You may want to check out http://steemtools.com/

Awesome that you've built a prototype, getting constant feedback and iteration would be the best way forward. We also have a chat channel over in https://steemit.chat . I go by the same handle there. Just reach out if you have any questions or just want to chat around :) ! Enjoy your stay.