@trinsec and ty, solved, works this way.
@HagbardCeline Excellent!
@HagbardCeline Also fyi, while hachyderm seems to be down right now, when I attempted to follow someone from another server just now as a test @[my username] @qoto.org [without the space in the middle] worked in that box.
@HagbardCeline I thought that instance blocked us but I'm not seeing qoto.org in their blocklist...
Alright, the better way to follow people is to copy the URL address of their profile page in your Qoto's search bar. That way you can follow them from within Qoto's interface which might be more convenient.