"Permanent web hosting."
Not at all! As long as the vast majority of Steemit members can have their posts downvoted and hidden, and their reputations ruined by a few slimballs, nothing is permanent. Steemit offers absolutely nothing of value to anyone except to a very select few at the top of the pyramid.
Even if your post is heavily downvoted and your rep is (-77), your posts can still be viewed.
Nobody can erase them, they're coded into the blockchain.
You can't make money with upvotes, but there are other ways to make steem-money. People run a lot of contests, photography, creative writing, that kind of stuff.