Well, perhaps they find the virtual life more compelling than the real one... The problem is sustainability. A virtual life cannot sustain itself indefinitely

Well, perhaps they find the virtual life more compelling than the real one... The problem is sustainability. A virtual life cannot sustain itself indefinitely, and is not very robust. If money runs out or a tragedy occurs, it will be a scramble to get a job and interact in the real world. A virtual life does not contribute to society (if we mean a purely passive virtual life), and if people start adopting it en masse we'd be in trouble. As far as I can see, we could simply try create a virtual life (or any kind of activity) that both is sustainable, and gives an interesting, engrossing life experience.