I need to know why the number beside my name decreased.

The number represents the number of posts, yes, so maybe two posts that you responded to were deleted. Do yourself a favor and don't worry too much about that number. If you're active on mylot you will earn money and eventually you will lose track of your numbers anyway.

Yes, that number is indicative of the number of posts you've made. That is the only reason I can think of. If you post something "iffy" myLot can remove your post AND your earnings. Do you remember posting anything questionable?

That number is the mumbeer of posts you've made. But it doesn't mean you violated anything. You may have posted in two discussions that were violations...when a discussion gets deleted everyone who posted in it loses points too. When it will affect your earnings depends on when the posts were lost and when mylot decides to readjust. It may have already been reflected when earnings updated today, it could be in tomorrow's update or it may not happen until the end of the month or ealy July as they prepare for payout.

It's my understanding that it happens when a discussion is deleted. Now, what I don't know for sure is if it is YOU who violated TOS or if someone who responded to you or even someone else's discussion that was in violation that you answered. I don't know - but something somewhere was deleted for some reason. Even though I'm almost at 500, I still don't know all the "what ifs" about it. But, if you keep a record anywhere of what you've said where, check to see if anything is missing.

Your discussion(s) may have been deleted due to inactivity. Posting discussions give you a higher post number and when they delete you discussion(s) then your number get's decreased depending on how much they deleted.