Why the name "woo"? The fact that this is likely to occur in the same context as "woo" as in "woo-woo" makes me uneasy; it seems likely someone not paying attention might actually get them confused. (Well, one is a count noun and one is a mass noun, but...)
Also, can you state the definition more explicitly? It's not clear from the above whether you're considering valid patterns of argument to be woos or not.
The term is actually derived from the verb to "woo".
The definition "A woo is a label for a commonly used argument or strategy to persuade" encompasses any commonly used and persuasive argument, including both valid and invalid arguments, or arguments that may or not be valid depending on how they're used (such as the Consensus Woo).
I think however an attribute attached to each Woo of its intrinsic validity would be a good idea. That kind of data could then be used to rate experts according to how often they use bad arguments, and hence contribute to the calculation of Eliezer's Correct Contrarian Cluster.
[MAJOR UPDATE: I have changed "Woo" to "Pitch" everywhere on the website and on this post due to extensive feedback from everyone. Thanks!]
I'm adding rhetorical-device/common-argument/argument-fallacy tags to the expert quotes on TakeOnIt and calling them "pitches".
The list of pitches so far is here.
Arguments have common patterns. The most notorious of these are rhetorical devices and argument fallacies. While these techniques are obviously not new and are published on several sites on the internet, they are woefully under appreciated by most people. I contend that this is partly because:
To solve these problems, I'm introducing the concept of a "pitch". Any quote from an expert or influential person on TakeOnIt can now be tagged with a pitch. A pitch is a label for a commonly used argument or strategy to persuade. You can think of pitches as the "tv tropes of argumentation". Here's some examples:
"The Consensus Pitch"
"The Patriot Pitch"
"The Convert Pitch"
Pitches encompass both argument fallacies and rhetorical devices. However, they allow for greater specialization. For example, there is the "The Evil Corporation Pitch". On a more minor note, I personally think the names should be simple and ideally guessable from the name alone (e.g. maybe it's just me, but "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" feels like it has some Web 2.0 marketing issues).
Eliezer's "Conversation Halters" and Robin Hanson's "Contrarian Excuses" are good candidates for pitches. (My impression is the "halters" and "excuses" listed are perhaps too specialized for pitches, but in any case at minimum provide fertile material for pitches.)
I only implemented this feature over the last few days and before developing the concept further I'd like to get some feedback.