Ask HN: How do you read blog/articles filled with references?

Hello HN, So the question is something I struggle with daily. I read a lot online, from one topic to another. Most often I read blogs, articles, academic papers, summary of tech/papers. (this includes stuff posted on HN) All of the things I read online, unlike traditional books, are filled with references/hyperlinks. Depending on article, amount of reference/links, my my mood at the moment, I either just skip the references and read the paper (and often miss some interesting insights), or jump in to one reference and gets stuck on it (often references have references). There's also the risk of losing focus on each "reference jump" (such as thinking about it, go off-topic, and asking it on HN) To amend it, I often "collect" all the hyperlinks in a list of "check up later", which in turn often creates another entry to the list (references having references) and just gets out of control, until I get rid of it. Then months down the line I re-discover it through other channels and lament that I could've known this months (if not years) ago if I just were thorough in my reading. (and gets stressed over it) So how do you go on with reading online, when information is just too abundant and often distracting?