Many Owners, to enable appropriation of users revenue, create various economic models.
This often includes ‘pending’ earnings which have not yet been’calculated’. This allows the Owners to take a nice chunk of each members earnings.
In the early days of online writing, Owners hired and paid people to defend the site. Today, that is unnecessary.
There are always users who will take it upon him/herself to defend, explain, justify the calculation of revenue.
These users will confront every other user who complains that their money is short.
Often their explanations about ‘unpaid’ earnings, and tentative calculations, make no logical sense.
Psychologically, these apologists feel if they ‘defend’ the site they will always be paid.
What makes many of these unpaid Shills so ridiculous is that when members complain about a site; the pay, the calculations, they are usually right. The unpaid Shill is defending a site which is very much robbing them.