The addiction isnt to the smartphone, but to social media applications. It's the constant pumping of information and misinformation, as well as a false sense of reality.

Teens (and other age groups) are constantly bombarded with topics, issues, and information which they have to make sense of. Quite often, this information is pretty depressing, rage inducing, or emotionally manipulative in one way or another. They learn from this - instead of having a curated view of the world and information from their parents, elders, siblings, etc.