Recently, mass media and researchers have begun to be concerned about excessive dependence on smartphones. Their interest, however, has largely focused on description of the phenomenon (i.e. severity of the addiction, current status of the addiction) or the development of measurement scales to assess the addiction. In this study, we ask a fundamental question about smartphone addiction: what users’ common sense of dependence on smartphones is. More specifically, employing a core–periphery analysis of social representations, this article explores how the younger generation has a different understanding of this addiction from the older generation. Findings of the study can provide a rich knowledge about users’ perceptions of and attitude toward smartphone addiction.