A couple of Adventure Mode questions

[Smegma Dispenser]

Hello, I've been playing DF since around 2013ish, and the 2014 update kinda ruined the whole feel for me for Adventure mode, the same system that is being used now. Like the cluttered conversations, that stupid "fame" mechanic where you have to scroll through the metric ton of events just to find that single one to brag about and even then if you kill 5 dragons you'll still get 3 or 4 followers maximum, where as pre-DF2014 you could have 10 of them no problem. Also the Quest log is too cluttered so that one ettin or whatever you're trying to find, you still have to go through a ton of unimportant stuff just to find that.

Now my questions are if I'm getting something wrong here, and if there's an easier way to do things.
1) How do I get to a state to have more than 3 followers? Do I have to dump the stats on Social awareness?
2) Is there a more efficient way of spreading fame? Do you really have to go through the rumor log just to find that one giant jaguar you killed and how many times do you have to do that? Is once enough okay for one kill? Once per town? How long do these rumors travel?
3) About the quest log, how do you even manage to find the site without having to talk about the same topic with an NPC just so you can remember the name Frazzledripped or something? Like is there a journal of just beasts/bandits or a more straightforward way of doing than I'm doing it currently? Is there a mod that would fix this or add to it?
4) What do the red shield and blue circle symbols mean on the world map, I haven't managed to find any info on that online.