Can't follow people from their page on my instance, but /ostatus_subscribe route works

env

2.2.2 source on Arch Linux PostgreSQL 12.3 Elixir 1.11.0 (compiled with Erlang/OTP 23)

bug

I can't follow people from their page on my instance's ui.

if i try to follow someone, anyone, it says "REQUEST SENT" even if their account is not private. it never updates.

however, if i go to their page on their instance, and click follow, i am able to subscribe using the /ostatus_subscribe popup. when i use the /ostatus_subscribe route, the follow works straightaway.

when i try to follow from the regular pleroma ui, in my logs i see:
Follower/Following counter update for https://(the user) failed" and '{:error, "id must be a string"}'

i don't know if that's relevant. i also see that same error message if i try to follow a relay with mix pleroma.relay follow. i don't know if that is relevant.

mod edit: related to #1469 (closed)